Re Suria Shaik Aziz: Admission to the Bar & Ethical Implications of Plagiarism

Suria Shaik Aziz applied to be admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. The Chief Justice of the High Court raised concerns about the Applicant's understanding of the ethical implications of plagiarism during his time as a law student. The Applicant was granted leave to withdraw his application, subject to an undertaking not to reapply for four months. The court's decision was delivered by Sundaresh Menon CJ on 5 May 2023.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Application Withdrawn

1.3 Case Type

Regulatory

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Application for admission to the bar was withdrawn due to concerns about the applicant's understanding of the ethical implications of plagiarism.

1.7 Decision Date

4 May 2023

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Suria Shaik Aziz	Applicant	Individual	Application Withdrawn	Withdrawn	Uthayasurian s/o Sidambaram, Divanan s/o Narkunan

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Sundaresh Menon	Chief Justice	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Uthayasurian s/o Sidambaram	Phoenix Law Corporation
Divanan s/o Narkunan	Phoenix Law Corporation
Lee Hui Min	Attorney-General’s Chambers
Clement Lim Chau Jie	Attorney-General’s Chambers
Andrew Chua	Drew & Napier LLC
Darryl Chew	Chia Wong Partnership LLC
Wong Li-Yen Dew	Dew Chambers

4. Facts

Applicant plagiarized materials in a research paper during his time at the University of Tasmania.
Applicant received a formal reprimand from the University for academic misconduct.
Applicant failed to disclose a prior incident involving plagiarism in a research outline.
Applicant characterized his misconduct as a failure to exercise due diligence in completing his coursework.
Applicant was aware of the high similarity index in his research paper before submitting it.
Applicant did not disclose the plagiarism incident in his affidavit for his Part Call Application.

5. Formal Citations

Re Suria Shaik Aziz, Admission of Advocates and Solicitors No 530 of 2022, [2023] SGHC 129

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2016-09-13	Applicant submitted a research outline for the Research Paper.
2016-10-28	Applicant submitted the Research Paper.
2016-10-31	Professor Otlowski informed the Applicant of an allegation of academic misconduct.
2016-11-03	Applicant met with Professor Otlowski to discuss the allegation of academic misconduct.
2016-11-04	Applicant received a letter from Professor Otlowski regarding the academic misconduct determination.
2016-11-09	Applicant submitted a revised version of his research paper.
2022-06-13	Applicant filed an Originating Application to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore.
2022-06-20	Applicant applied to be part called under s 32(3) of the Legal Profession Act 1966.
2022-07-12	Applicant's Part Call Application was granted.
2022-09-19	Applicant filed his affidavit for admission in which he disclosed the plagiarism incident.
2022-09-26	The Attorney-General requested the Applicant to file a supplementary affidavit to provide more information and documents on the plagiarism incident.
2022-09-29	Applicant filed the Supplementary Affidavit.
2022-09-30	The Attorney-General emailed the Applicant and asked him to elaborate on the nature of the “repeated warnings about plagiarism”.
2022-10-02	Applicant replied and explained that the “repeated warnings” likely referred to Professor Hilkemeijer’s feedback in relation to his Research Paper Outline.
2022-10-04	The Attorney-General applied to adjourn the Applicant’s admission application for one month.
2022-11-01	Adjournment granted for admission hearing.
2023-02-28	Case management conference held.
2023-03-14	Applicant filed the further affidavit.
2023-03-21	Leave was granted for the Attorney-General to withdraw the Notice of Objection.
2023-03-31	The Attorney-General withdrew the Notice of Objection.
2023-04-11	Admission hearing.
2023-05-05	Decision delivered.

7. Legal Issues

Ethical Implications of Plagiarism
- Outcome: The court found that the applicant demonstrated a continuing lack of appreciation of the ethical implications of his misconduct.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Lack of insight into the gravity of passing off the work of others as one's own
  - Failure to appreciate the rationale behind academic integrity rules
Suitability for Admission to the Bar
- Outcome: The court was of the view that the Applicant was not a fit and proper person to be admitted at this time.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Disclosure of prior misconduct
  - Remorse and rehabilitation
  - Forthrightness in disclosures

8. Remedies Sought

Admission as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Regulatory Law
Professional Responsibility

11. Industries

Legal Services
Education

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Re Wong Wai Loong Sean and other matters	High Court	Yes	[2022] SGHC 237	Singapore	Cited for the principles governing admission applications, specifically the inquiry into an applicant's character and the factors considered when there has been prior misconduct.
Re Tay Jie Qi and another matter	High Court	Yes	[2023] SGHC 59	Singapore	Cited for the principles governing admission applications, specifically the inquiry into an applicant's character and the factors considered when there has been prior misconduct.
Re Tay Quan Li Leon	High Court	No	[2022] SGHC 133	Singapore	Cited to draw parallels with the applicant's conduct during the initial investigations, where the applicant sought to downplay his culpability.
Re Teo Jun Kiat, Evan (alias Zhang Junjie)	High Court	Yes	[2015] SGHC 274	Singapore	Cited for the requirement of 'good character' as set out in s 13(b) of the LPA.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Legal Profession Act 1966	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Plagiarism
Academic misconduct
Admission to the bar
Ethical implications
Research paper
Turnitin
Similarity index
Part Call Application
Disclosure
Remorse
Rehabilitation

15.2 Keywords

admission
advocate
solicitor
plagiarism
ethics
legal profession
Singapore

16. Subjects

Legal Ethics
Professional Conduct
Higher Education

17. Areas of Law

Legal Profession
Admission to the Bar
Ethics
Academic Misconduct