Sieve aspiring lawyers by Bar exam, not the varsity they went to

THE recent delisting of eight UK universities from the list of approved overseas scheduled universities (OSUs) by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) appears to be a reflexive response to months of news coverage about a glut of lawyers in Singapore. The list of approved foreign universities has been recognised for the purposes of admission to the Singapore Bar.

In recommending the review of the list of OSUs, the high powered 4th Committee on the Supply of Lawyers was careful to caveat in their influential report of May 2013 that the list of OSUs "now operates as a qualitative sieve", whereas it was originally used as a "quantitative scythe". However, SILE's "qualitative" rationale for delisting eight UK universities from the OSU is a controversial one which raises more questions than it answers.

How "qualitative" is the "qualitative sieve"?