Various documents fall under the legal advice privilege and the litigation privilege. Axiom is revolutionizing legal workforce solutions in Singapore and beyond. We know you don`t just want to fill an empty seat at the table – you`re looking for a smart, accomplished and highly skilled lawyer with the experience to get it right the first time. NOTE: The Director of Legal Aid may refuse legal aid even if the applicant has passed the substantive and substantive review if he or she considers it inappropriate to receive it in the particular circumstances of the case, such as if there is a third party whose interests coincide with those of the applicant who could afford to fund the dispute. and who would also benefit from the litigation. In the case of a person who is not mentally competent, the person who wishes to be appointed as his or her court-appointed substitute under the Mental Capacity Act must apply for legal aid on behalf of the mentally disabled person. An attorney is a person appointed by the court to make certain important decisions regarding the welfare, property and/or affairs of the mentally disabled person. The privilege of legal advice does not extend to certain types of communication. The privilege of legal advice is a legal right under sections 128 and 131 of the Evidence Act.

Second, the in-house lawyer must have legal expertise. This generally means that the in-house counsel has the right to be a qualified lawyer in Singapore under the Legal Profession Act. While this does not preclude foreign lawyers from being in-house lawyers, these lawyers may not provide advice contrary to the relevant provisions of the Lawyers Act.2 Communication with third parties is also protected by the privilege of legal advice if it serves the primary purpose of legal advice. In this context, in Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB Singapore Branch v Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd,8 the Singapore Court of Appeal endorsed the Australian approach as set out in Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd v. Commissioner of Taxation.9 Commentators have suggested that the Court of Appeal should use the main purpose test to obtain legal advice as “protection against overapplication of the 10 Sections 128 and 131 of the Evidence Act apply to a “lawyer and a solicitor” and a “legal adviser” respectively. With respect to factor 2, the Singapore courts have narrowly defined the term “client”. A client does not include a third party to whom legal advice is disclosed, unless the third party acts as a representative of the original client. If a representative exercises his or her own discretion by seeking legal advice from a lawyer, that disclosure would not be protected because the agent no longer acts as an extension of the client. Second, a pre-existing, non-privileged document cannot be privileged simply because a client gives it to their lawyer for safe storage or advice. Legal privilege protects confidential communications between a lawyer and his client when providing or receiving legal advice.

It also protects documents containing such communications. Here are some common legal questions we can help with: Patent and trademark attorneys are considered to be lawyers and advocates of the Supreme Court of Singapore as they must be admitted by the Supreme Court under section 12 of the Legal Profession Act if they are to practise or advise Singapore law. The rules of solicitor-client privilege would therefore apply to patent and trademark attorneys (but not to patent and trademark attorneys who are not licensed lawyers in Singapore). In Singapore, the husband has the legal responsibility and duty to provide for the wife or ex-wife or to contribute to her maintenance (e.g. reasonable costs of accommodation, clothing, food and education). The process privilege protects communication, not facts. This means that what a witness has seen and heard cannot be protected by procedural privilege, and a litigant cannot prevent the witness from testifying simply by receiving a statement from the witness and then refusing to testify from the witness.14 Under section 128A of the Evidence Act, Solicitor-client privilege extends to confidential communications with in-house lawyers.