SINGAPORE: Singapore lawyers are apathetic about issues
of public law, says the man who is three months into his role
leading the legal fraternity.
So, in his first big move since becoming Law Society president,
Mr Michael Hwang has persuaded its council members to set up a
high—powered committee to "promote greater awareness of public and
international law".
One of its first projects: To study the extent the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights applies as law in Singapore.
Mr Hwang, a Senior Counsel, believes the time has come for
lawyers to look at how public and private international law, which
range from international treaties Singapore has signed to
commercial arbitration, apply here.
In a message to lawyers, he cited how Hong Kong’s Equal
Opportunities Commission successfully sued its Ministry of
Education, which had given boys two credit points for secondary
school admission to make up for their lack of development compared
to girls.
"Are our administrative agencies and statutory tribunals really
fairer than those in our neighbouring countries? Or, is it simply
that our practitioners are not seeing constitutional and
administrative law issues that are embedded in the problems that
come before their eyes?" wrote Mr Hwang in the latest issue of Law
Gazette, the society’s monthly publication.
TODAY understands that the new committee, chaired by Dr Thio Su
Mien, former dean of the National University of Singapore law
faculty, and comprising Senior Counsels Sundaresh Menon, K S Rajah,
Peter Low and Cavindar Bull, held its first meeting last week and
there are tentative plans for public lectures in April and May.
When contacted, Mr Hwang told TODAY: "The committee will study
human rights, but in the context of legal principles. It will cover
rights granted under the Singapore law, as well as rights that are
granted by international law, to the extent that it is received in
Singapore."
The issue of civil liberties is one that his predecessor, Senior
Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam has said the society should have more
freedom to comment about, subject to the caveat that whatever it
says should have "a reasonable consensus of the profession".
Lawyer Chia Boon Teck, for one, believes the authorities are
"more receptive to objective feedback and constructive criticisms"
and is impressed with the committee’s line—up of
"highly—respectable practitioners".
But human rights activist M Ravi who was one of three lawyers to
petition to the society during International Human Rights Day last
year to conduct human rights training for lawyers criticised the
composition of the "long overdue" committee as "elitist and
pro—establishment".
But the society is still looking for more members, "especially
younger practitioners". Mr Hwang said: "What we did was to set up
the committee with a good selection of the best people we can find.
But I didn’t want to fill up the remaining places just yet; the
appointed members may know people I don’t know."
On the issues raised in the petition, he said he had replied
comprehensively and added: "They asked why we don’t support the
establishment of a human rights commission. That has nothing to do
with us. A human rights commission is for the Government to set
up." — TODAY