The Law Society has applied to disbar Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh after his court conviction for lying under oath was upheld last December.
The application was outlined in a notice issued by the High Court on Friday (31 July), which was seen by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source: The Workers’ Party on Facebook
The Law Society is seeking to have Mr Singh struck off the roll of advocates and solicitors when his disciplinary case is heard from 10am on 13 Aug.
According to SG Courts, that hearing will take place before the Court of Three Judges — a court that rules on the professional misconduct of Singapore-qualified lawyers.
It has the power to suspend or strike them off the rolls, and will be presided over by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Kannan Ramesh and Justice See Kee Oon.
The Law Society is represented by Drew & Napier, one of Singapore’s “big four” law firms. The team includes Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull, Chief Executive Officer of the firm.
Mr Singh will be represented by Peter Low Chambers LLC.
Under the Legal Profession Act, the Law Society must, without further direction, make an application to the court for disciplinary action to be taken against a lawyer convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online
The lawyer concerned may be struck off the rolls, suspended for up to five years, or fined up to S$100,000.
They may also be cleared of professional misconduct.
The Law Society’s disciplinary proceedings came after Mr Singh was convicted of giving false testimony to the Committee of Privileges (COP) on two occasions, regarding former WP MP Raeesah Khan’s lie in Parliament.
His conviction was upheld in December last year by the court, which also fined him S$14,000.
Mr Singh was subsequently removed from his position as Leader of the Opposition by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, but issued a letter of reprimand by WP.
He was then re-elected to the position of Secretary-General during the party’s Cadre Members’ Conference on 28 June, despite months of internal debate over his leadership.
Also read: Pritam Singh re-elected as WP chief after cadre vote, but what exactly is a cadre?
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Featured image from MS News and adapted from @lawsocietysg on Instagram.