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Legal clinic to help victims of violence in Singapore's French community in the works

A pro bono legal clinic aimed at helping women in Singapore's French community who are victims of violence is in the works.

It will also provide the legal practitioners a forum to exchange perspectives on their professional practice and encourage conversations to mutually understand each other's legal system.

This initiative was jointly announced by the Law Society of Singapore, its pro bono arm, the Paris Bar Association, and the French Embassy in a virtual conference on Friday (April 30). A support centre will be opened in Singapore and will be run by qualified lawyers practising French law here. Singaporean pro bono lawyers will also work with these lawyers to handle matters involving Singapore law.

A Law Society spokesman said the legal clinic aims to help those suffering from all kinds of violence, including domestic, sexual and workplace violence. They can be women from different nationalities - Singaporeans included - who are married to French citizens, the spokesman added.
 

Law Society president Gregory Vijayendran said this cross-jurisdictional project is the first of its kind. "If we do not care enough as a society about the committing of external violence, we commit internal violence to our own souls," he added.

A new commission aiming to promote dialogue between lawyers from Paris and Singapore through a training programme was also announced on Friday.

It will also provide the legal practitioners a forum to exchange perspectives on their professional practice and encourage conversations to mutually understand each other's legal system.

The initiatives announced on Friday follow the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Law Society and the Paris Bar Association on Jan 17 last year.

Mr Vijayendran said the Law Society has been in regular contact with the Paris Bar Association through online meetings since the signing.

"The time is now right for us to emerge out of the shadows cast by Covid-19 to tangibly collaborate with one another," he added.

 

Photo: President of the Law Society Gregory Vijayendran (left) and French Ambassador to Singapore Marc Abensour (right) attend a virtual conference held on April 30, 2021.PHOTO: THE LAW SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE

 

This article first appeared in The Straits Times on Apr 30, 2021.

 

 

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