After being sentenced to jail and a further hearing over his case was rejected, lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean reportedly failed to surrender to start his jail term on Monday (3 Aug).
An arrest warrant has thus been issued for him, reported The Straits Times (ST).
Lim was initially supposed to start his sentence of three months and one week — for practising law without a valid certificate — on 20 July.
However, his lawyer Revi Shanker told ST that he had asked for his sentence to be deferred to settle some personal affairs.
This was granted, and he was supposed to surrender himself on Monday instead.
His bail, which was earlier extended till 20 July, was presumably also extended till 3 Aug.
Mr Shanker said Lim had messaged him on Monday morning, and was “fully aware” that he had to surrender to the State Courts at 12 noon.
But he became uncontactable after that and did not show up, his lawyer added, professing to be “puzzled” over the reason.
Lim’s bailor could not contact him either.
A Singapore Courts spokesperson confirmed that Lim did not surrender at the appointed time, so a warrant to arrest was issued.
The SG Courts website shows that the arrest warrant was issued during a hearing at 3.30pm on the same day.
Source: SG Courts
The next morning (4 Aug), a pre-trial conference was scheduled to be held for other outstanding charges against him.
This was changed to a warrant to arrest review on 17 Aug.
Source: SG Courts
The purpose of the review is to receive updates on the warrant’s status and for Lim’s bailor to show cause as to why the bail amount should not be forfeited.
Lim, chief of the opposition party People’s Voice, had practised as a lawyer for a period of more than two months while not having a valid practising certificate.
From 1 April 2021 to 9 June 2021, he attended court hearings and handled legal matters for his clients despite not being authorised to do so. He only received his practising certificate on 10 June 2021.
Lawyers in Singapore are required to apply for their practising certificate by 31 March every year for the following year starting on 1 April. Lim applied for his only on 9 June 2021.
Source: Lim Tean on Facebook
In February 2025, Lim was sentenced to six weeks’ jail and fined S$1,000 for practising law without a valid certificate.
But he appealed the decision to the High Court, which instead increased his sentence to three months and one week.
This came after the prosecution also appealed for a stiffer sentence of between five and eight months in prison.
Though Lim was supposed to begin his sentence on 24 April, he had applied for permission to refer “four questions of law of public interest” to the Court of Appeal, which is Singapore’s highest court.
This application was refused, and he was ordered to start serving his sentence on 20 July.
Separately, Lim was fined S$30,000 by the Court of Three Judges, a disciplinary tribunal that hears cases on the professional misconduct of Singapore-qualified lawyers.
The case was regarding a S$30,000 cheque meant for his client that he had banked into his law firm’s account instead of a separate account for clients’ monies as required.
He has also been charged with unlawful stalking in a case relating to the alleged harassment of a former employee of his law firm in 2020.
Also read: Lim Tean must start jail term on 20 July after top court refuses application for hearing
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