Following widespread objection from lawyers in Singapore, a plan to cap fees based on the amount claimed in a civil suit has been scrapped.

Last week it was reported that local lawyers were pushing back on such proposals from two commissions. According to local newspaper The Straits Times, about 1000 lawyers had attended a Law Society of Singapore townhall this month to air their concerns to law minister K Shanmugam and Indranee Rajah, second minister for finance and education. 

But yesterday evening, the Business Times revealed that those concerns had been heard. An unnamed lawyer who attended both the initial townhall where lawyers spoke about their position on the changes, and a subsequent forum held yesterday, said that Shanmugam had told practitioners the changes were no longer being considered and the proposal had been withdrawn.

The minister reportedly told the attendees that the Ministry of Law would be carefully weighing what the next steps would be, but the recommendation may be revisited in the future.

The Civil Justice Commission (CJC), established by Shanmugam to improve the average citizen’s access to justice, had initially recommended that legal costs in civil suits should be fixed, and tied to a claim amount. 

The proposal said the recommended maximum sums allowed for professional fees would be S$6,000 ($4,350) for a S$60,000 claim, S$148,000 for a S$10 million claim, and S$723,000 for a S$200 million claim.

The Ministry of Law’s website outlined further suggestions from the CJC.

The other report cited, from the Civil Justice Review Committee (CJRC), included recommendations for enhancing judicial control over the court process, along with other areas of development.

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