AG Woon wants more lawyers who look beyond financial
gains
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 April 2008 1805 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) needs
lawyers who will look beyond financial gains, and attracting such
lawyers is one of the priorities of the new man in charge,
Professor Walter Woon.
The new Attorney-General, who has assumed the post this month, also
wants to enhance the work of international law within the
AGC.
Prof Woon said: "What we hope to engage is altruism and a sense of
public duty that some students and lawyers would have. (In) the
criminal justice division, we are chronically short. It is hard
work and they are under-appreciated by the public."
Another challenge facing the legal sector in Singapore is that of
professional upgrading and retraining.
In fact, Prof Woon has been heading a committee that is looking
into this area after wide-ranging recommendations were put forth by
Judge of Appeal Justice V K Rajah's committee, which looked at
further enhancing legal education and the legal sector in
Singapore.
The Attorney-General said: "The days when you can pick up an
ancient English case and say this is the law in Singapore are long
gone. For the lawyers of my vintage where we didn't have computers,
we were used to books.
"For the new ones who know how to use IT, they have an advantage
but they have to sift out information that is useful - and that
requires you to be learning every year, every week."
Prof Woon added that the practice of law also depends a lot on
trust, which is why the law must come down hard on errant
lawyers.
He said: "There is also a problem of greed. It is a perennial
problem. If you have greed, you have this abuse of trust. You can't
have a commissar sitting down there and double checking everything
that you do. You have got to balance practicality with protection
of the public.
"We have tightened up, hoping we will head off the next scandal.
But humanly speaking, I don't think it is possible – whatever rules
you put in, there will always be the possibility of
circumventure."
To study the problem of errant lawyers, a working committee that is
headed by Justice Rajah has been formed. This committee will
release its recommendations within five months.
- CNA/so
COOL!!! Why can't our PM ask the Ministers to look
beyond the finanical gains too
