Singapore Academy of Law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, President
- Yeong Zee Kin, Chief Executive
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 November 1988 |
| Headquarters | 1 Supreme Court Lane, Singapore 178879 |
| Agency executives |
|
| Website | sal.org.sg |
| Agency ID | T09GB0002H |
The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) is a promotion and development agency for Singapore's legal industry. SAL also undertakes statutory functions such as stakeholding services and the appointment of Senior Counsel, Commissioners for Oaths and Notaries Public. It also organises the annual TechLaw.Fest with the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and MP International. The conference is a global gathering of legal and tech professionals and has featured speakers like Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Law Minister K. Shanmugam.
SAL has 3 sub-brands: Singapore Law Watch, Academy Publishing, and LawNet (known as Legal Workbench in Malaysia).
SAL also has 3 subsidiaries: Singapore Mediation Centre, Asian Business Law Institute, and LawNet Technology Services.
SAL has designated the Yellow Ribbon Fund as the sole beneficiary of its charity efforts since 2011.
The Singapore Academy of Law Act was created by an Act of Parliament on 1 November 1988, and had its City Hall premises officially opened by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. With the Singapore Academy of Law (Amendment) Act passed in 1995, SAL's functions were expanded to include development of legal infrastructure and services.
Management
Senate
SAL is led by a Senate headed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and comprising the Attorney-General, the Supreme Court Bench and key leaders of the various branches of the legal profession. It has more than 12,000 members, including the Bench, all persons who are called as advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court (i.e. the Bar) or appointed as Legal Service Officers, corporate counsel, faculty members of the three local law schools (i.e. National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Social Sciences) and foreign lawyers in Singapore.
Executive committee
SAL's Executive Board oversees major decision making and provides strategic direction for the development of SAL's role in the Singapore legal industry. The Executive Board comprises 12 members from both the judiciary and the private sector.
Work of the Academy
The scope of SAL's work as a promotion and development agency covers four "Cs":
- Creating knowledge and know-how
- Catalysing ideas, insights and innovation
- Capability building with tools and technology
- Connecting the legal community
This work is carried out by 5 clusters:
- The Legal Education cluster comprises 3 divisions: Conference & Seminars, Training (workshops & courses) and e-Lex (eLearning programmes).
- The Legal Knowledge and Publishing cluster has the following functions: Academy Publishing, Law Reporting and Legal Heritage.
- The Legal Development cluster oversees Professional Affairs, International Promotion of Singapore Law, Law Reform, Singapore Law Watch and SAL Scholarships.
- The Legal Technology cluster developed and manages LawNet and the Electronic Litigation Systems.
- The Corporate Development and Services cluster is in charge of Statutory Services (Authentication, Appointments, Membership and Stakeholding), Business Development, Communications, Finance and Treasury functions, as well as internal corporate services. It also undertakes the work related to the Future Law Innovation Programme (FLIP).
Management
| Date | Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 - 7 February 2021 | Serene Wee | Director since at least 1997[1][2] |
| 8 February 2021 - 7 February 2023 | Rama Tiwari | [3] |
| 8 February 2023 - 28 February 2023 | Serene Wee | Interim Chief Executive |
| 1 April 2023 - present | Yeong Zee Kin | [4] |
