Lawyer Lim Tean handed 3 more charges including committing act that could defeat course of justice

Lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean was handed three additional charges on Oct 9.

The 61-year-old allegedly failed to present a valid passport to an immigration officer when leaving Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint on Aug 4.

He is also accused of committing an act that could defeat the course of justice by allegedly leaving Singapore for Malaysia unlawfully that day.

Lim purportedly did so to avoid serving his jail sentence, which the Court of Appeal had ordered him to begin on Aug 3.

For his third charge, he allegedly failed to comply with the duty imposed on him to surrender to custody at the State Courts on Aug 3 to start serving his sentence.

Lim was expected to begin his jail term for practising law without a valid certificate on Aug 3. An arrest warrant was issued against him that same day after he failed to show up. The founder of opposition party Peoples Voice was arrested three days later in Johor Bahru by the Royal Malaysia Police and subsequently deported to Singapore on Aug 11.

The Singapore Police Force said the Commercial Affairs Department arrested Lim upon his return from Malaysia that day.

He had been convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act in July 2024 and sentenced to six weeks’ jail and a fine of $1,000 by a district judge in February 2025.

Lim had attended court hearings and submitted documents on 32 occasions between April and June 2021 without a valid practising certificate in force.

He later filed an appeal in the High Court against his conviction and sentence. Prosecutors also appealed, seeking a stiffer sentence of between five and eight months’ jail.

In February, the High Court judge allowed the prosecution’s appeal and increased Lim’s sentence to imprisonment of three months and a week.

Lawyers in Singapore must apply for their practising certificates every practice year, which runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. Lim failed to apply for a practising certificate by March 31, 2021, because he had trouble obtaining his professional indemnity insurance, a prerequisite for the application.

On Aug 8, two Singaporeans who allegedly helped him leave Singapore were charged. 

Mohammad Adam Abd Karim, 45, and Sulaiman Muhammad Firdaus, 38, were each handed one count of engaging in a conspiracy to commit an act that has a tendency to defeat the course of justice. According to the charge sheets, the two men had allegedly made arrangements for Lim to leave Singapore on Aug 4. Their cases are pending.

In April, Lim was also fined $30,000 in a disciplinary case over his handling of a $30,000 cheque that was meant for his client.

The Law Society of Singapore had called for him to be struck off the rolls, while he argued before the Court of Three Judges that a very small fine should be imposed instead.

Lim still has multiple pending charges for offences including harassment and criminal breach of trust as an attorney.

He is currently serving his sentence for practising law without a valid certificate, and his pre-trial conference is scheduled for Oct 23.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

ADV: Open for pre-sale: The Singapore Judiciary – A Bicentennial History S’porean lawyer wins global award for parliamentary work, advocacy for groups like migrant workers