Specialist Accreditation Scheme Expanded to Family Justice | Enhancing the Professionalism of Family Lawyers

This article was first published on 12 January 2026 in the Singapore Mandarin broadsheet, Lianhe Zaobao.

SLW obtained permission to reproduce the article to give the legal community a broader view of legal reports for various news syndicates.

The Specialist Accreditation Scheme, aimed at raising the level of professionalism, will be expanded to family justice, with application expected to start in the first quarter of the year. After the rollout, members of the public will be able to identify lawyers with a higher level of professionalism in family law through their accreditation status.

Speaking at the opening of the legal year on Monday (12 January), Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said with the launch of therapeutic justice in the Family Justice Courts in 2024, and its subsequent introduction in the Youth Court, the demand for specialist training for family law practitioners has grown.

Therapeutic justice is a judge-led legal process which encourages parties and their legal representation to work with other professionals within a legal framework to seek timely and sustainable solutions to family disputes.

At last year’s opening of the legal year, the Chief Justice had announced the formation of a committee, which had suggested the introduction of an accreditation framework for family law practitioners. The goal of accreditation is to enhance professional excellence in family law and encourage the development of a corps of family lawyers with both the head and the heart to help families rebuild their lives.

The Specialist Accreditation Scheme has already been introduced across three fields – building and construction law, maritime and shipping law, and data and digital economy law. To date, a total of 111 lawyers have obtained accreditation.

Family law will become the fourth specialisation to introduce an accreditation system. Applications are expected to begin in the first quarter of the year, and the first cohort of lawyers will receive accreditation in 2027.

Scheme aims to recognise family law specialists

Responding to Lianhe Zaobao, the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) said the scheme aims to recognise legal practitioners who show a high level of professionalism and familiarity with therapeutic justice and solutions, recognising their strong professional experience. In addition to professional recognition, the scheme will also aid in the sustainable development of the profession, and encourage young lawyers to specialise in family law and develop their career paths in the field.

Lawyers who receive the specialist accreditation can add it on to their professional titles; relevant information will also be included in the SAL list of specialists, which provides the public with a reliable channel for identifying family law practitioners with a high level of professionalism and specialised expertise.

When interviewed, 张凯杰Shawn Teo, partner at Rajah & Tann, said specialist accreditation will help clients identify specialists in the field and also help lawyers specialising in family law to raise their professional repute. He remarked that more positive changes – including therapeutic justice - have been introduced in family law in recent years, reflecting the continuous evolution of the field. He hoped that the accreditation scheme will encourage lawyers to keep up with the development of the field and continue to upgrade their professional capabilities and knowledge.

Koh Tien Hua, a legal practitioner who has specialised in family law for over 20 years, said judging from the existing specialist accreditation schemes, the scheme for family justice is likely to evaluate lawyers based on the number of years they have been in practice, experience of dealing with trials and appeals, and academic discussions, or require them to have completed a fixed number of reported cases within a stipulated time frame.

Koh believes the launch of the accreditation scheme will help enhance the level of professionalism among family lawyers.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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