SINGAPORE: In March, the Law Society of Singapore initiated disciplinary proceedings against Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh, after his conviction for two counts of lying had been upheld by the High Court last December.

The hearing before the Court of Three Judges has been set for 10:00 am on August 13. According to the hearing list, it is to be disciplinary proceedings for Advocates and Solicitors of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore.

The judges on the case are Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who will be presiding, as well as Justice Kannan Ramesh and Justice See Kee Oon. The Law Society of Singapore will be represented by Drew & Napier, while Mr Singh will be represented by Peter Low Chambers LLC.

On March 12, it was reported that a case management conference had been scheduled to be held in a Supreme Court chamber that afternoon. 

For situations involving lawyers, after the Law Society brings charges, a disciplinary tribunal gives its ruling on the case. If disciplinary action is deemed necessary, the Law Society applies to the Supreme Court for a hearing to be held by the Court of Three Judges. The court may impose such penalties as fines, suspension, or disbarment.

The Court of Three Judges is the highest disciplinary body for lawyers and will decide whether sanctions should be imposed. These include ordering an advocate and solicitor to be removed from the roll, a suspension from practice for a maximum of five years, censure, and as much as S$10,000 in fines. A combination of these sanctions is also possible.

The Raeesah Khan scandal

The legal troubles of Mr Singh, whose position as Secretary-General of Singapore’s leading opposition party was renewed for the fifth time on June 28, began in 2021, with former WP MP Raeesah Khan lying in Parliament multiple times.

Ms Khan told Parliament about a sexual assault victim whom she accompanied to a police station, where she alleged that the victim was treated insensitively. A few days later, she admitted to the party leaders that the story she told in Parliament was untrue. After Ms Khan met with Mr Singh, WP chair Sylvia Lim, and vice chair Faisal Manap, the former MP appeared to interpret their a...