The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) will proceed with its contempt of court case against Li Shengwu.

Served papers in United States

The pre-trial conference takes place at the Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 13.

The Straits Times reported that court papers were served to Li who is in the United States, where he is a junior fellow at Harvard University.

Jail sentence can be imposed

Li's lawyer told reporters that the AGC has taken up an originating summons, which is typically used in civil cases, and Li has not been charged with a crime.

However, the lawyer also said the court can impose a jail sentence in a contempt of court case.

Li is the nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the eldest son of Lee Hsien Yang.

July 15 Facebook post

This contempt of court case resulted from a Facebook post by Li on July 15, where he wrote that "the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system".

After Li was asked to apologise and he declined, the AGC applied for and was granted the court's permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings in August.

The AGC had called the post an "egregious and baseless attack" on the judiciary.

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The next pre-trial conference is set for Dec. 4 to give Li's counsel time to review the court papers.

The AGC was represented by Senior Counsel Francis Ng at the Supreme Court on Monday.