About Mandatory CPD for Young Practitioners

Fact 1:

Mandatory CPD will come into effect on 1 April 2012. CPD Year 2012 runs from 1 April 2012 to 31 December 2012. Thereafter, CPD year runs from 1 January to 31 December that year.

Fact 2:

Practitioners who have been admitted to the Singapore Bar on or after 2 January 2007, and who have in force a practising certificate between 1 January and 31 December 2013, will need to comply with the new CPD scheme.

Fact 3:

For practitioners who have in force a practising certificate between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 the minimum CPD points to be accumulated are indicated in the table below:

Please note that excess CPD points from one year cannot be carried over to the next, and CPD points should not be “double-counted”.

Fact 4:

Practitioners can accumulate CPD points through a variety of  means. However,  a minimum number of at least half the required CPD points must be from SILE-accredited CPD activities (known as “public points”). The remainder can be accumulated from non-accredited learning activities as specified in the Legal Profession (Continuing Professional Development) Rules 2012 (known as “private points”). 

As an illustration, for practitioners who need to up to 8 points for CPD purposes, this can comprise of a minimum of 4 public points, and a maximum of 4 private points. For example, at one end of the spectrum, a practitioner  can accumulate 4 public points + 4 private points. He can also accumulate up to 8 public points (in which case he need not accumulate any private points). However, the practitioner cannot meet his CPD requirements utilising more than 4 private points (for example, he cannot utilise 2 public points and 6 private points. He can only use up to a maximum of 4 out of the 6 private points and would need to gain an additional 2 public points).

Please refer to Law Society’s SILE-Accredited Activities on our CPD portal or on SILE’s CPD webpage for a list of events for which you can accumulate public points.

Fact 5:

In the event a practising lawyer is not able to meet minimum requirements by 31 December 2012, he/ she will be required to make an application to SILE’s Compliance Committee to waive the requirement or provide an extension of time for compliance purposes. If an extension of time is granted, any CPD points gained from 1 January to 31 March the following year, will not go towards CPD points to be accumulated for that year (no “double counting” of points).

Fact 6:

Practitioners will gain CPD points based on meeting minimum participation requirements set by SILE in recognised activities. Practitioners will need to maintain their own records (subject to audit by SILE) for at least 3 years. They will be required to make declarations that they have met all CPD requirements,or  not met CPD requirements but have been granted a waiver or extension of time from SILE in the course of renewing their practising certificate for the following year. Non-compliance with CPD requirements may result in non-renewal of practising certificates. False declarations may be referred for disciplinary proceedings.

The Law Society of Singapore is currently developing a system to permit you to track your registrations for Law Society CPD events, including those that are SILE-accredited.