Jail, fine for Lim Tean after practising as a lawyer without valid certificate in 2021

Lawyer Lim Tean was sentenced to six weeks’ jail and a fine of $1,000 on Feb 17 after attending court hearings on behalf of his clients on 32 occasions without a practising certificate between April 1 and June 9, 2021.

Before handing down the sentence, Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun said Lim has not shown any remorse and had practised as an unauthorised person during that time. The judge also added that a deterrent sentence was “desirable” to discourage others from committing similar offences.

In July 2024, the 60-year-old opposition politician was convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act after a trial.

In earlier proceedings, Judge Ong said it was not disputed that Lim was issued a practising certificate dated June 10, 2021, which came into force that day.

With this conviction, the founder of the Peoples Voice party still has pending charges for offences that include criminal breach of trust. These charges will be dealt with at a later date.

Deputy public prosecutors Edwin Soh and Bryan Wong had earlier stated in their submissions that over a period of more than two months, Lim attended court hearings and submitted many documents to court while not having a valid practising certificate.

They added: “Instead of pleading guilty as a sign of remorse, the accused claimed trial. His conduct during the trial was demonstrative of his guilt. The accused had no valid defence to his charges.

“He elected to remain silent and chose not to call any witnesses when the defence’s case was called. Further, he repeatedly attempted to delay the proceedings using... irrelevant constitutional arguments based on him being ‘singled out for prosecution’ by the public prosecutor.”

The DPPs said Lim had made several attempts to delay proceedings.

For instance, they highlighted that the trial was scheduled to begin on Aug 29, 2023, but it did not proceed, as he had discharged his earlier defence lawyer, Mr Sankar Saminathan, that day.

Lim told the court that he decided to discharge Mr Sankar, as they had “fundamental disagreements” on how to handle his defence.

The court then granted an adjournment before the trial proceeded later that year.

During the trial, the court heard that Lim did not have his practising certificate for two months in 2021, as he had not paid his professional indemnity insurance.

According to the Singapore Courts’ website, lawyers must apply for their practising certificate every practice year, which runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

The Law Society of Singapore’s website states that lawyers need to fulfil certain stipulations to get a practising certificate.

These include having professional indemnity insurance and fulfilling continuing professional development requirements.

The compulsory professional indemnity insurance covers lawyers against civil liability when providing legal services.

DPP Soh had said that Lim paid the professional indemnity insurance only in June 2021, and his practising certificate for the practice year of 2021 to 2022 was issued only on June 10, 2021.

According to the prosecution, Lim was involved in a writ of summons on April 1, 2021, and carried on or defended court proceedings in the name of his clients on 32 occasions.

The DPPs told Judge Ong that Lim also prepared documents and instruments relating to court proceedings in Singapore on 32 occasions.

On Feb 17, defence lawyer Patrick Fernandez told the court that Lim intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence. His pre-trial conference will be held on March 3.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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