Lim Tean gets 6 weeks' jail & S$1,000 fine for representing clients without valid practising cert

Lim Tean has been sentenced to six weeks' jail and a S$1,000 fine on Feb. 17.

This comes after he attended court hearings on behalf of his clients on 32 occasions without a practising certificate for over two months, between Apr. 1 and Jun. 9, 2021.

In July 2024, Lim was convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act.

Lim, who is Peoples Voice political party founder, still has pending charges for offences that include criminal breach of trust, The Straits Times reported.

'Repeatedly attempted to delay the proceedings': Deputy public prosecutors

According to ST, deputy public prosecutors Edwin Soh and Bryan Wong said Lim's conduct during the trial was "demonstrative of his guilt", and that he "had no valid defence to his charges".

They added that Lim "elected to remain silent" and did not call witnesses when the defence's case was called.

"Further, he repeatedly attempted to delay the proceedings using... irrelevant constitutional arguments based on him being ‘singled out for prosecution’ by the public prosecutor," they said.

Had not paid professional indemnity insurance

According to the Singapore Courts’ website, lawyers must apply for their practising certificate every practice year.

The "practice year" refers to the period between April 1 in any calendar year to March 31 of the following year.

As part of the application, lawyers must apply for professional indemnity insurance.

Lim, however, had only paid the professional indemnity insurance in June 2021.

Hence, his practising certificate was issued only on Jun. 10, 2021.

According to the prosecution, Lim was involved in court proceedings in the name of his clients between Apr. 1, and Jun. 9, 2021, before he had obtained his practising certificate.

Lim intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

His pre-trial conference will be held on March 3.

Top photo from Lim Tean/Facebook & SGCourts website.