The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) is the only university in Singapore dedicated to working adults, allowing them to pursue lifelong learning and higher education while balancing career, family and social responsibilities. The primary focus of the SUSS School of Law is to train and produce lawyers for the practice of law in Singapore, particularly in the areas of Criminal Law and Family Law.
Traditionally, lawyers tend to gravitate towards the commercial areas of law, leaving a gap in the areas of Criminal Law and Family Law. From the perspective of our society, this is a concern we need to address. Thus, the SUSS School of Law seeks to address this shortfall as part of the national effort to meet the need for well-trained lawyers in these areas of law.
However, even when this shortfall of practitioners is overcome, it remains a fact that Criminal Law and Family Law affects families, communities and the society in Singapore: the practitioners are involved in more than just legal issues. The School of Law will offer more training and exposure to cross-disciplinary areas like sociology, social work and criminology, to prepare students for family and criminal legal work that have become increasingly specialised over time. In time, the School of Law will be a focal point for the broader eco-system of practitioners, students, government bodies and non-governmental organisations working in these fields, generating relevant and cross-cutting research in collaboration with similar institutes in Singapore and overseas jurisdictions.
In view of the SUSS School of Law's emphasis on the practice of law, the focus will be on applied learning to prepare our graduates for the practice of law in Singapore.
As the emphasis is on applied learning, the University’s law programmes will concentrate on core areas of law including Criminal Law and Family Law as well as related non-law subjects rather than the academic areas such as jurisprudence. To better prime and prepare our graduates for practice in the community, students will be offered relevant non-law subjects as part of their core curriculum. These subjects will include compulsory courses in Social Services and Forensic Sciences.