JUDICIAL AND LEGAL SERVICES (Remuneration and Career development)

The following Question stood in the name of Mr Davinder Singh -

Mr Davinder Singh: To ask the Minister for Finance whether it is intended to restore the starting pay in the Legal Service from $1,400 to $1,600; and, if not, what incentives are there for top legal graduates to join the Legal Service.

Dr Ho Tat Kin (Toa Payoh GRC): Question No. 5, Sir.

The Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau): Mr Speaker, Sir, remuneration and career development in the Judicial and Legal Services is one of the issues being studied by a Committee on Scholarships and Civil Service Careers which was recently set up by the Government. The Committee is headed by BG Lee Hsien Loong (Minister for Trade and Industry and Second Minister for Defence (Services)). Other members include BG George Yeo (Minister of State for Finance and Foreign Affairs), Mr Mah Bow Tan (Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Communications and Information), Dr Cheong Siew Keong (Second Deputy Chairman of the Public Service Commission), and Dr Andrew Chew (Head of the Civil Service) and other senior public servants.

The Committee has been given broad terms of reference to review and recommend improvements to the present system of public sector personnel management to ensure that the public service continues to attract and retain the best talent in Singapore. It will examine present organizational arrangements, scholarship terms, promotional policies and salary scales. Details of the Committee's terms of reference have been distributed to Members.

The Committee should be ready to recommend whether to raise starting salaries in the Judicial and Legal Services by the Budget in March, although other recommendations will come later.

I can assure the Member for Toa Payoh GRC that the Government will review salaries and service conditions of the Judicial and Legal Services to ensure that they are attractive to good legal minds in Singapore. Government is aware that officers of the Legal Service play an important role in the public affairs of Singapore. Judicial and Legal Officers man the courts and the Attorney-General's Chambers. Legal Officers are also heads of several government departments and are therefore also directly involved in policy formulation as well as the administration of these departments. It is therefore imperative that the Judicial and Legal Services attract an adequate share of able law graduates each year.