Singapore's third law school's first intake from Jan 2017

SINGAPORE'S third law school, focusing on criminal and family law, will take in its first batch of 50 to 60 students from January 2017.

The Ministry of Law said on Tuesday admissions will open in March this year.

The law school will be set up in UniSIM and 80 per cent of the intake will be mature students, including paralegals, law-enforcement officers and social workers.

The ministry said the school's curriculum will be credit-based and modular to cater to mature and working students.

It will offer a Bachelor of Laws for undergraduates to be completed in four to six years, as well as a Juris Doctor for graduates to be done in three to six years.

The UniSIM Law School will explore the co-location with the State Courts or the Family Justice Courts.

Senior Counsel Leslie Chew has been appointed dean of the new law school.

The development of the law school is guided by the recommendations of a steering committee led by Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law Indranee Rajah.

Set up in November 2013, the committee had submitted its proposals to the Ministry of Law earlier this month, which have now been accepted in full.