MINISTRY OF LAW

PROF. S. JAYAKUMAR Minister for Law

1. The Ministry of Law (MinLaw)'s focus will be to:

(a) strengthen our legal infrastructure and expand the legal services sector;

(b) formulate a comprehensive legal and policy framework for Intellectual Property (IP) and develop Singapore as a centre for IP; and

(c) optimise our land resource.

Legal Services

2. MinLaw will work closely with the Attorney-General's Chambers, Academy of Law, Law Society and NUS Law Faculty to accelerate the growth of the legal sector and upgrade our legal talent pool. Our lawyers must keep up to date on emerging areas such as info-communications technology (ICT), biotechnology, intellectual property (IP) and international trade laws, and continually upgrade their expertise in key areas such as corporate finance, banking, aviation and shipping laws. This will support our strategies to make Singapore a hub for high value-added activities such as ICT and financial services.

3. We will also develop international arbitration and mediation into a thriving service cluster together with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC). MinLaw will further promote community mediation as a means of resolving social and relational disputes. We will work with the Community Development Councils to create greater public awareness of community mediation. We will also raise the professional standards of our mediators through training and accreditation, and promote other forms of mediation such as peer mediation in schools and pre-bankruptcy mediation.

4. Beyond these domestic initiatives, MinLaw will enhance our training infrastructure to enable the legal fraternity to share their legal knowledge with lawyers in the region and promote the harmonisation of trade and commercial laws within ASEAN and the region. We will also explore how we can promote legal services as an export industry.

Intellectual Property

5. MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) will work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other economic agencies to put in place a legislative and policy framework to develop Singapore as an IP hub, attractive for companies, IP professionals and other individuals to congregate, create and exploit IP. MinLaw will capitalise on Singapore's excellent legal infrastructure to position ourselves as an international arbitration and mediation centre for IP dispute resolution.

6. To achieve this, quality IP-related manpower is critical. MinLaw will set up an IP Academy for the training of IP-related skills, to increase the sophistication of our businesses in IP management and to complement the academic curriculum in the Universities.

Land Branch

7. MinLaw and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will review our land policies, including lease expiry and renewal, lease upgrading and the land charging and pricing policy, in order to optimise and intensify land use, promote the orderly renewal of Singapore's physical landscape and support the national economic restructuring effort.

8. We will also review regulations and practices to ensure effective management of state land. We will streamline our land acquisition practices so that public projects can be carried out smoothly. Land legislation including the Land Titles (Strata) Act and the Residential Property Act will also be reviewed to meet new and evolving needs and improve the management of strata development in Singapore.