Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Conception:
22 centuries ago
when a group of influential persons who called themselves experts in the law were said to
have first appeared in ancient Rome and then Greece in about 200 BC
now a noble calling
Perception of nobility
could have some unhappy distortions at times
o a judge who passed on to as by the Public Information Office of the SC, called the
contending lawyers to his chambers regarding a bribe for a case
the 2 most publicized scandals in the world (Watergate and Enron) involved lawyers
The New Challenge
the lawyer of today and tomorrow must now also meet the challenges of cutting edge
science and technology and a borderless society
recent events would tell us that it is no longer possible for a lawyer to content himself
with just bare ways he has to know
technology interfaces with science, law enters the equation
o will impact unprecedented levels and in yet undefined proportions
The Transition has Begun
advances in science and technology and the idea of globalization usher a new era in the
legal system
the new age promises a system of law that would be global and dominant in its character
Ignoring technology will be at our peril. Palakrishnan, President of Law Society of
Singapore
The Academe
Programs for legal education must consider a curriculum based on a notion of
comprehensive rather than autonomous, legal system that connects to linkage
arrangements.
The bottom line: requiring law graduates with the ability not only to practise
transitionally or across jurisdictions, but also to have a broad understanding of world
issues that maybe cultivated, if not taught, through an interest in, and a familiarity with,
all social sciences along with modern technology
Planning and designing programs for legal education that are professionally relevant and
intellectually enriching curriculum based on a notion of comprehensive rather than an
autonomous, legal system that connects to linkage arrangements.
The Bench and the Bar
o
o
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People v Yatar
Its application has caused a reversal of a number of final convictions in the US
Accuracy depends on the reliability if DNA samples
Can it thus be said that the tone has already been set i.e. that the ends of justice might justify
the means or that in the hierarchy of value, the cause of justice can prevail over individual rights?
Or should we invoke again the so-called balancing of interest rule or pro hac vice approach.
Beyond the Digital Age
All that we have is hope and our humanity
If today we are still unsure, then there is even greater uncertainty to aptly grasp
tomorrows complexity
Conclusion: Hope that the legal profession will not allow itself to become obsolete and a
mere reliance of a bygone age; that it will have the capability of recognizing, as well as
have the resolute to survive, the crossroad when it comes, all despite his insatiable quest
for the ultimate.