SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Law is working to encourage pro bono work among lawyers.

Measures currently under consideration include making pro bono work a mandatory component of legal education.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Law, Sim Ann, said in Parliament that this will help foster the pro bono spirit in law students, and allow them to gain practical skills outside the classroom.

The Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) will work with the two law schools to implement these plans in the next academic year.

The measures will also encourage existing lawyers to get involved.

"We will also be expanding the Legal Aid Steering Committee (LASC) chaired by former Senior Minister of State for Law, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee. A wider cross-section of the legal community, including the judiciary, academia and practitioners, will be involved. This will bring key stakeholders in the legal community together in the Legal Aid Steering Committee to set the strategic direction for pro bono efforts, and rally the legal community to do more pro bono work," said Ms Sim.

The Ministry of Law will also be revising the means test for legal aid.

Ms Sim said the review has started and will be completed soon.

The Ministry of Law will also consider Mr Edwin Tong's suggestion to exclude life insurance policies from the means test, and to revise the income criteria.

These amendments will be tabled in the middle of the year. CHANNEL NEWSASIA