Law Society members to hold extraordinary general meeting following concerns over election of new president

SINGAPORE: A group of lawyers has called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) following concerns among some members of the legal community over the appointment of the Law Society of Singapore's (LawSoc) council member Dinesh Singh Dhillon as its incoming president.

In a notice dated Tuesday (Dec 9) and seen by CNA, several lawyers are convening the meeting to be held on Dec 22 over concerns of the Bar's independence, with a proposed resolution that the council ought to elect a president who was elected in by the members of LawSoc.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the resolution records the meeting's views and does not alter of invalidate any office-bearer election", the notice added. 

The notice, addressed to LawSoc's current president and vice presidents among others, is signed by senior lawyer Peter Cuthbert Low, who is also the motion's proposer. Mr Chandra Mohan K Nair is stated as the motion's seconder. Both Mr Low and Mr Chandra Mohan are former LawSoc presidents.

The issue relates to the election of Mr Dhillon, who was elected as president for the 2026 council after an internal vote by council members.

Mr Dhillon has since given an undertaking not to run for president of the 2027 council unless he runs and succeeds in the council elections held next year. 

Unlike previous presidents, Mr Dhillon was a statutory member of the 2025 council who was appointed by the Law Minister. This means that he was not elected into the 2025 council by LawSoc's 6,400 or so members.

Under the Legal Profession Act, the council comprises both elected and statutory members. The 2026 council consists of 21 lawyers, including four office bearers: the president, two vice-presidents and the treasurer. 

Of these, 15 are elected by LawSoc members, while the remainder are statutory members and can include the immediate past president, as well as up to three members appointed by the Minister for Law, and up to three appointed by the council.

A president, two vice-presidents and the treasurer must then be elected from within its ranks.

Responding to CNA's queries, LawSoc said that Mr Dhillon was appointed as a statutory member of the 2025 council by the Law Minister, with his two-year term commencing on Sep 1, 2025.

Sources told CNA that Mr Dhillon ran against incumbent vice president Samuel Chacko for the position of president in the recent office bearer elections and won by a slim margin.

In its earlier statement, LawSoc confirmed Mr Dhillon’s election as the 2026 president at a council meeting but declined to comment further on the proceedings, citing confidentiality reasons.

Mr Dhillon, a seasoned lawyer called to the Bar in 1995, is co-head of Allen & Gledhill’s international arbitration practice and chairman of Pro Bono SG, a charity that provides free legal aid.

Lawyers earlier told CNA that a requisition notice had already been circulating in the days following the announcement on Nov 17 of Mr Dhillon's appointment, accompanied by messages seeking support and asking for signed requisition forms to be sent to Mr Low and Mr Chandra Mohan.

This notice had called for an EGM to discuss the independence of the Bar and whether the president must be an elected member of council, in light of Mr Dhillon’s appointment announced earlier that month.

In a response to CNA’s queries on Nov 25, LawSoc confirmed that a written requisition notice for an EGM was “deposited with a vice-president” at 4pm the day before. 

It said that the council was reviewing the requisition in accordance with Section 68 of the Legal Profession Act. LawSoc is governed by the Act.

The latest notice submitted by Mr Low states that the LawSoc council "resolved not to convene an EGM", hence the requisitioners are putting out their own notice to convene an EGM. 

Under the Act, any 25 members may requisition a general meeting by submitting a written, signed notice to the president or a vice-president. The council must convene the meeting within 14 days and the meeting must be held within 30 days of receiving the notice.

If the council fails to do so, the requisitioning members may convene the meeting themselves within two months of submitting the notice.

While the LawSoc has not called for an EGM, it is organising a tea session on Wednesday (Dec 10) to "address any queries or concerns of members on any issue, in particular the transition of Council-elect 2026 into office and their plans for 2026", according to a message from LawSoc to members.

Mr Low, Mr Chandran Mohan, Mr Dhillon and Mr Chacko had declined comment when contacted. 

Mr Low is managing director at Peter Low Chambers, while Mr Chandra Mohan - who was LawSoc president from 1995 to 1997 - is a partner at Tan Rajah & Cheah. Mr Chandra Mohan was also Nominated Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2004.

FIRST PRESIDENT-ELECT TO BE APPOINTED INTO COUNCIL BY MINISTER

Mr Dhillon is the first president-elect to be a statutory member appointed by the Law Minister, LawSoc said in response to CNA.

However, it noted that this was not the first time ministerial appointees have held office bearer roles. Some have served as vice president or treasurer previously.

"There is no express rule in the Act that prohibits a statutory member appointed by the Minister for Law to be elected as the president, or any other office-bearer, of the Law Society," LawSoc said in its statement.

Referring to the Act, LawSoc said there were no special qualifications or credentials to be elected as president, simply that council members must not be disqualified from holding office.

When approached, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) told CNA on Nov 26 that it was aware of ongoing discussions among lawyers on this issue.

Noting that the Legal Profession Act allows the Law Minister and the council to nominate up to three statutory members into the council, a spokesperson said that statutory members are members of the LawSoc council and are not representatives of MinLaw.

"The statutory members are expected, as with the rest of council, to act in the best interests of the Law Society council and the legal profession, in the discharge of their duties."

It added that the election of office bearers was "solely within the purview of the Law Society council".

TEA SESSION 

At the tea session at Maxwell Chambers on Wednesday, it was revealed that Mr Dhillon has undertaken not to run for presidency unless he participates in the council elections around October next year.

This means he would have to step down before his two-year term ends and be elected into the council in order to recontest the presidency.

But when asked during the session whether he would step down at this point, Mr Dhillon said no as he was elected by council members legitimately, according to sources present.

Members were also told that Minster for Law Edwin Tong had been involved in mediating between the various parties, while Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon had facilitated the process after the first notice was circulated.

Speaking to CNA, former LawSoc president and senior counsel Thio Shen Yi said there was no prohibition under the Legal Profession Act against any council member standing for president, whether elected into council or minister appointee.

"(Mr Dhillon) won it fair and square ... It's the process designed under the Legal Profession Act, why anyone should be complaining about it is a complete mystery to me because the idea that the president can only be an elected member I think it's an understandable personal preference and it's an understandable opinion, but it has got no basis in law," Mr Thio, who is from TSMP Law Corporation, said.

He also said that he was not aware of any convention preventing a political appointee to run for presidency during his decade-long stint in the LawSoc council. 

"If there's such a convention, nobody told me about it and I've been embedded in the Law Society for a long time."

Lawyer Luo Ling Ling, who runs an eponymous firm, said members were also concerned that LawSoc had not called for an EGM when it received a valid requisition notice. 

"Worst, after it received a valid requisition for EGM, LawSoc suppressed this information from the lawyers and did not disclose the fact that a requisition for EGM was deposited with the Law Society," she said.

Ms Luo, who had taken to LinkedIn to post about the tea session to provide more details to other lawyers, said the LawSoc also did not disclose the full context of the tea session.

CNA has learnt that another notice has been submitted to LawSoc to express no confidence in LawSoc council members who voted for a non-elected council member to be the LawSoc president. 

The notice, which was moved by lawyer Sunil Sudheesan of Quahe Woo and Palmer, also called for the EGM to censure council members who were against convening an EGM when Mr Low first deposited the requisition notice, and to consequently ask these members to resign.