The Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore has granted the application of UNO-RECOLETOS Law Dean John Paolo A. Villasor for registration as a foreign lawyer before the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) on May 6, 2016. He is the first and only Filipino to be included in the Register of Foreign Lawyers in this international court, which includes barristers-at-law from the Bar of England and Wales, as well as lawyers from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong.
As a registered foreign lawyer, Dean Villasor is authorized to do any of the following before the Singapore International Commercial Court: appear and plead in any relevant proceedings; appear and plead in the Singapore Court of Appeal in any relevant appeal; represent any party to any relevant proceedings or relevant appeal in any matter concerning those proceedings or that appeal, as the case may be; give advice, prepare documents and provide any other assistance in relation to or arising out of any relevant proceedings or relevant appeal.
In addition, if the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) or the Singapore Court of Appeal issues an order permitting him to make submissions on a question of foreign law, in and on behalf of a party, to any pertinent proceedings or any relevant appeal from any judgment given or order made in those proceedings, he shall appear, and give advice and prepare documents, in those proceedings or in that appeal, solely for the purposes of making submissions on that question on foreign law, in accordance with Rule 5(2)(i) of the SICC Rules.
A party to proceedings commenced in the Singapore International Commercial Court, and in appeals arising from such proceedings, may be represented by a foreign lawyer registered pursuant to section 36P of the Legal Profession Act (Cap 161) and the provisions contained in the Legal Profession (Foreign Representation in Singapore International Commercial Court) Rules 2014.
The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) is a division of the Singapore High Court and part of the Supreme Court of Singapore designed to deal with transnational commercial disputes. It is a superior court of law built on the foundations of a legal and judicial system that is highly regarded and favorably ranked in international surveys conducted by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development and the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy.
The Singapore International Commercial Court was officially launched by the Chief Justice of Singapore on January 5, 2015. (SCHOOL OF LAW)