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Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong has opened the legal year, the first time he has done so as Chief Justice.
He said the legal profession needed to maintain the balance between settling court cases quickly and making sure that justice was also served.
Singapore's legal system, he added, has maintained a high efficiency rate of clearing court cases.
In 2006, about 375,000 cases were disposed of, roughly 99 percent of cases in both the High Court and Subordinate Courts.
It is an improvement of one percent compared to the period from 2003 to 2005.
Another target is disposing 85 percent of the cases within the first 18 months of filing.
Using technology, cases can also be timely managed.
For example, the use of e-mails will reduce the need for physical attendances in pre-trial conferences and this could also extend to other proceedings.
The Justice On-Line System will also be upgraded to allow lawyers to present and share documents with other parties online.
A 3G mobile phone service could also allow lawyers to video conference with the courtroom while on the move.
An effort is being made to enable Singaporeans to get access to legal resources on the web.
While the legal profession have made great strides over the last few years, Chief Justice Chan also raised several concerns.
He noted globalisation has caused income gaps between small, medium and large firms.
Another issue is the deterioration in professional values and ethics in the practice of law.
Chief Justice Chan said: "Last year the public standing and reputation of the Bar was severely damaged by a single act of embezzlement. The fact that a substantial amount has been reported to have been recovered in court proceedings is a happy development. But it will take many years for the Bar to regain the trust of the public, especially in the integrity of the small law firms to keep their money safe."
Disciplinary matters needs to speed up as well and the time needed to settle such cases has doubled from about seven months to more than a year.
He noted it takes time for the disciplinary committees to meet and also the time for it to make its report. reforming the structure is needed and the problem is being studied to speed up the process.
Chief Justice Chan also announced the appointment of three new Senior Counsels - Sant Singh, Harpeet Singh and Toh Kian Sing.
Sant Singh, Senior Counsel, says: "It is of course an honour and with that honour comes the obligation to live and work to certain standards which are expected of you. As a trial lawyer it is important that you handle every case and every new case, is a new brief and you are as good as your last case, so it's imperative you continue to strive like you did before."
Harpeet Singh, Senior Counsel, says: "Appointment to Senior Counsel is not a sign of having arrived. It's the beginning of a new chapter, it will mean higher demands higher standards which will be expected of you all around you would expect that of yourself. It's a spur to reach an even higher level of standard."
Toh Kian Sing, Senior Counsel, says: "I hope to serve as a source of inspiration to the younger lawyers so that we could have a bigger bar as opposed to a thinning bar, to use the AG's words."
Former Chief Justice Yong Pung How has also been named an Honorary Member and Fellow for Life of the Singapore Academy of Law. - CNA/ch
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