Singapore Law Society: Cannot responsibly continue to include M Ravi as speaker in conference

Singapore Law Society has released a press release on the cancellation of Human Rights Lawyer, M Ravi as a speaker in the Law Society's Administrative and Constitutional Law Conference 2015 to be held in 27 February.

According to the press release, Mr M Ravi was invited by the law society in July 2014 to be a panellist at the Conference. At that point, the Law Society had no information suggesting that there would be any concerns regarding Mr M Ravi's participation.

However, the Council of the Law Society recently received information relating to his medical condition and is of the view that it cannot responsibly continue to include Mr M Ravi as a panellist in its conference.

The Council of the Law Society said that the decision was not taken arbitrarily and Mr Ravi was informed of the grounds of Council's decision.

Mr M Ravi had earlier sent a press release to the media today, claiming that the Law Soc has indiscriminately cancelled him as a speaker for the upcoming Administrative and Constitutional Law Conference which he had been scheduled to speak at both the morning and afternoon Sessions.

Mr Ravi further added that he would commence legal action against the Council members in the coming days and will be suing them jointly and severally.

Full statement by Singapore Law Society

We have received multiple queries from the media concerning the withdrawal of Mr M Ravi as a panellist from the Law Society's Administrative and Constitutional Law Conference 2015 to be held on 27 February 2015 ("the Conference"). While as a matter of consideration, it was not our intention to disseminate this beyond the Conference participants and Mr Ravi himself, the media queries and the fact that selective information has been released to the public domain necessitates this statement.

In July 2014, the Law Society invited Mr M Ravi to be a panellist at the Conference. At this point, the Law Society had no information suggesting that there would be any concerns regarding Mr Ravi's participation. However, as has been widely publicised, the Council of the Law Society recently received information relating to his medical condition (reference to press statement of 12 February 2015).

Given the proximity of the Conference, coupled with these concerns, which include his current medical condition, the effectiveness of his medical regime, and the workability of his monitoring system, the Council is of the view that it cannot responsibly continue to include him as a panellist in our Conference. There was no indication that Mr Ravi would voluntarily withdraw from the Conference. Council accordingly notified Mr Ravi of Council's decision to withdraw Mr Ravi as a panellist at the conference. The decision was not taken arbitrarily and Mr Ravi was informed of the grounds of Council's decision. These are not “charges” as alleged.

The Council has a duty to protect the integrity of the profession as well as the events that it organises. We owe a duty to the participants at our conferences. All available information, including that already in the public domain, has been considered before coming to this decision.