Law Society to release investigation report after redaction process

AI generated

SINGAPORE - The Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) council told members on Aug 20 it will release the audit committee’s report, which had looked into workplace complaints and governance issues at the organisation.

However, this will be done only after a process is carried out to redact information relating to the interviewees, LawSoc said in an email to its members.

The decision came after about 200 Law Society members had a tense four-hour closed door dialogue on Aug 13, where lawyers called for the disclosure of the report and relevant investigation material.

On Aug 14, Law Minister Edwin Tong had called for the relevant reports to be made available to members with appropriate redactions to protect the interviewees.

On the same day, LawSoc president Tan Cheng Han said on his LinkedIn page he had explained at the session that the council must honour the promise of confidentiality made to the interviewees, many of whom are LawSoc’s ex-employees.

The investigation arose from an anonymous email sent to the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Manpower on Sept 13, 2025.

It contained allegations and complaints against certain people and practices within LawSoc, Tong had said in a written parliamentary reply on Aug 5.

He added the allegations concerned inappropriate workplace conduct, weaknesses in governance and oversight, deficiencies in grievance handling and whistleblowing processes, and shortcomings in internal controls over certain administrative and financial practices.

According to LawSoc’s email to members, the council held a meeting on Aug 18 following the Aug 13 dialogue session.

The email reiterated the interviews were conducted on the basis that the responses given were confidential and only for the purposes of the investigation.

The council said it deliberated how best to honour the assurance of confidentiality while meeting members’ desire for greater information.

The email said the council intends, by Aug 24, to write to all interviewees to give them the right to redact their names from the reports and interview transcripts, and to redact all or part of their interview transcripts.

The interviewees will be asked to provide their response by Sept 7.

They will be informed that if they do not reply by then, their statement will not be disclosed as they have not waived the confidentiality promised to them, the email stated.

Right of reply

In cases where allegations have been made against certain individuals, those individuals will be given the right to respond by Sept 21 or 14 days after the relevant redacted transcripts have been sent to them.

The email said the council intends to release the report as soon as practicable after the process has been completed.

Tong had said in his parliamentary reply that the probe into complaints of workplace practices at LawSoc had identified significant failings in leadership, culture and governance from 2022 to 2025.

He had said these failings have no place in an institution like LawSoc, as they undermine confidence within the organisation, affect the well-being of its employees, and risk eroding the trust the legal profession and the public place in it.

He noted the investigation did not find evidence of deliberate financial impropriety or an intentional cover-up.

He had said: “It is important that the council now carefully considers the findings in their entirety, assesses whether, and if so what, further action is required, and takes firm and decisive steps wherever appropriate to address any shortcomings, strengthen governance, improve accountability, and ensure that similar issues do not arise again.”