PMO Media Release: Appointments and reappointment of Supreme Court Judges, Senior Judges, Presiding Judge (Family Justice Courts) and Judicial Commissioner

The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(1) of the Constitution, has appointed Justice See Kee Oon (施奇恩), currently Judge of the High Court, as Judge of the Appellate Division with effect from 1 Oct 2023.

2.       At the same time, in accordance with Article 95(2) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic of Singapore has reappointed Justice Choo Han Teck (朱汉德) as Judge of the High Court for a period of two years from 21 Feb 2024. Justice Choo’s current term ends on 20 Feb 2024.

3.       The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(1) of the Constitution, has also appointed Judicial Commissioner Goh Yihan (吴亦涵) and Judicial Commissioner Teh Hwee Hwee (郑慧慧) as Judges of the High Court with effect from 1 Oct 2023. In addition, Judicial Commissioner Teh will be appointed as the Presiding Judge, Family Justice Courts for a period of three years starting from 1 Oct 2023. Judicial Commissioner Teh takes over Justice Debbie Ong Siew Ling, who relinquishes the position she has held since 1 Oct 2017.

4.       The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(4)(b) of the Constitution, has appointed the following Judges as Senior Judges:

• Justice Tan Siong Thye (陈祥泰) for the period from 22 Jun 2023 to 4 Jan 2027;
• Justice Judith Prakash (朱迪柏拉卡斯) for the period from 2 Jan 2024 to 4 Jan 2027; and
• Justice Lee Seiu Kin (李兆坚) for the period from 30 Jan 2024 to 4 Jan 2027.

5.       The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(4)(a) of the Constitution, has appointed Mr Wong Li Kok, Alex (黄律愷) as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court for a term of two years with effect from 1 August 2023.

Appointment of Judge of the Appellate Division

Justice See Kee Oon

6.       Justice See was appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court on 14 Apr 2014 and as a Judge of the High Court on 31 Jan 2017.  He was concurrently appointed as Presiding Judge of the State Courts from 14 Apr 2014 to 31 Mar 2020, to oversee the day-to-day management of the State Courts.

7.       His areas of focus include finance, securities, banking, complex commercial cases, public law and judicial review, tort claims as well as criminal matters. Justice See is currently the President of the Industrial Arbitration Court and chairs the Criminal Law Advisory Committee, and Personal Injury Damages Committee. He is also the Judge-In-Charge of the General Division of the High Court and the Judiciary’s Knowledge Management Office. In addition, he is also the Deputy Chairman of the Singapore Judicial College Board of Governors and a Member of the Military Court of Appeal.

Re-appointment of Judge of the High Court

Justice Choo Han Teck

8.      Justice Choo was first appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore on 1 Apr 1995 and then as a Judge of the High Court on 2 Jan 2003. Justice Choo retired on 20 Feb 2019. Following his retirement, he was re-appointed thrice as Judge of the High Court and his current term will expire on 20 Feb 2024.

9.       As a Judge, his areas of focus are in employment issues, revenue law, tort claims, criminal matters and family law. Justice Choo has been the President of the Military Court of Appeal since Nov 2004 and a member of the SAL’s Publication Committee since 2006.

10.      Justice Choo as one of the more senior judges on the High Court Bench hearing family law matters, has played an important role in handling the cases that come before the High Court in this area.

Appointment of Judge of the High Court

Judicial Commissioner Goh Yihan

11.      Judicial Commissioner Goh graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Hons) in 2006 as the valedictorian and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 2010. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 2011 and had served as a Senior Justices’ Law Clerk as well as an Assistant Registrar in the Supreme Court. He then joined the NUS Faculty of Law in 2008 as Teaching Assistant and was appointed an Assistant Professor in 2011. He left in 2014 to join the Singapore Management University (SMU) as an Associate Professor of Law in the Yong Pung How School of Law and became the Dean in 2017. He was appointed Professor of Law in SMU in 2019. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in Jan 2021 and joined the Supreme Court as Judicial Commissioner on 1 Jul 2022 for a term of two years.

12.      As a Judicial Commissioner, he hears cases on the specialised lists involving finance, securities, banking, complex commercial cases, company, insolvency, trusts, intellectual property and tort claims. Judicial Commissioner Goh chairs the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) Commissioning Advisory Panel and also co-chairs the Learning and Professional Development Committee as well as the Legal Research and Publications Committee of the SAL. 

Appointment of Judge of the High Court and Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts

Judicial Commissioner Teh Hwee Hwee

13.      Judicial Commissioner Teh will be appointed Judge of the High Court with effect from 1 Oct 2023. In addition, she will be appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts with effect from 1 Oct 2023 for a period of three years. Judicial Commissioner Teh was appointed Judicial Commissioner on 1 Aug 2022 for a period of 18 months.

14.      Judicial Commissioner Teh hears cases on the specialised lists of the Supreme Court for building and construction, shipbuilding, complex and technical matters, finance, securities, banking, complex commercial disputes, tort claims and family matters. Prior to her appointment as Judicial Commissioner, she was the Registrar of the Supreme Court, the Divisional Registrar of the Court of Appeal and the Divisional Registrar of the Singapore International Commercial Court. She has more than two decades of experience in the legal sector and has been instrumental in driving a number of major reforms throughout her career, including the development of the Alternative Dispute Resolution landscape in Singapore and the growth of Singapore as a premier hub for dispute resolution.

15.      Judicial Commissioner Teh graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from NUS and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard University. In addition to her judicial work as a Judicial Commissioner, she continues to be involved in the work for development of Singapore as a venue of choice for dispute resolution. She is also a member of the Senate of the Singapore Academy of Law and a Board member of the Singapore Mediation Centre.

Appointment of Senior Judges

Justice Tan Siong Thye

16.      Justice Tan was first appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore on 1 Oct 2013 and was then appointed as Judge of the High Court on 1 Jul 2014. He resigned in Feb 2015 to assume the appointment of Deputy Attorney-General for a period of about two years from Feb 2015 to Mar 2017 before returning to the Bench as a High Court Judge on 1 Apr 2017. Justice Tan retired on 21 Jun 2019 at the age of 65. He was re-appointed twice as Judge of the High Court after his retirement, and his current term will expire on 21 Jun 2023.

17.      As a Judge, his areas of focus include technical factual disputes including construction, as well as criminal matters, and cases concerning company law and tort claims. In addition to his judicial work, Justice Tan chairs the Singapore Academy of Law’s Staff Committee, the Expert Panel of SMU Pro Bono Centre as well as the Independent Review Panel of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He is also the Advisor to the Singapore Academy of Law’s Statutory and Corporate Services Committee.  

Justice Judith Prakash

18.      Justice Prakash was appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore on 1 Apr 1992 and was subsequently appointed a Judge of the High Court on 1 Apr 1995. She was appointed as Judge of Appeal on 1 Aug 2016 and since her retirement at the age of 65 on 18 Dec 2016, she has been re-appointed thrice to the Court of Appeal. Her current term as Justice of the Court of Appeal expires on 18 Dec 2023.

19.      As a Judge, her areas of focus are in arbitration, finance, securities, banking, complex commercial cases, company, insolvency, trusts, shipping and insurance laws. She chairs the Law Reform Committee of the SAL and the Journals Advisory Committee. Justice Prakash has served more than three decades in the Supreme Court Bench and many of her judgments, particularly on arbitration and commercial law, have been influential both domestically and internationally.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin

20.      Justice Lee was first appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore on 15 Oct 1997. He resigned in Oct 2002 to assume the appointment of 2^nd Solicitor-General at AGC for a term of about three and a half years before returning to the Bench as a High Court Judge on 11 Apr 2006. He retired on 29 Jan 2019 and has been re-appointed thrice with his current term expiring on 29 Jan 2024.

21.      As a Judge, his areas of focus cover technical factual disputes such as construction and shipbuilding, employment and criminal matters, and intellectual property. Justice Lee was a member of the Legal Service Commission from 2016 to 2022. He is the Chairman of the Advisory Board constituted under Article 151(2) of the Constitution. He also chairs the ASEAN Law Association (Singapore) and the Board of SAL Ventures Ltd which is a subsidiary of SAL. 

Appointment of Judicial Commissioner

Mr Wong Li Kok, Alex

22.      Mr Wong graduated from the University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield College with a Bachelor of Laws (2^nd Class Upper) in 1996. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1999 and admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2007. Mr Wong started his career as an associate with Colin Ng & Partners before joining Lee & Lee. He was a Partner in Lee & Lee from 2005 to 2007 before joining Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee where he specialised in energy, utilities and infrastructure projects. Mr Wong was made a Partner of the same firm in 2011 and, in 2020, he was appointed to his current position as the Office Managing Partner of Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee. 

23.     In 2018, Mr Wong was designated a Senior Accredited Specialist for Building and Construction by the Singapore Academy of Law – the only transactional lawyer so designated by the Academy. He is highly regarded as a leading energy, infrastructure and construction practitioner in this region. Being able to practise both Singapore and English law, Mr Wong has wide experience locally and internationally in advising sponsors, lenders, contractors and governments on energy, utilities and infrastructure projects.

24.      Mr Wong is particularly well known for his work in the water and renewable energy sectors, and his most recent work includes the restructuring of a water PPP (Public-Private Partnership) project in Africa and the development of offshore wind projects in Taiwan. Mr Wong has contributed chapters to two book publications and in particular, the book titled “Water Governance – An Evaluation of Alternative Architectures” was endorsed by the Institute of Water Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.

25.       Mr Wong was a Council Member of the Society of Construction Law from 2013 to 2022 and the Chairman of the Society from 2016 to 2018. He was also a member of the Law Society Continuing Professional Development Committee from 2015 to 2019 and its Co-Chair from 2016 to 2018.

26.      With these appointments and reappointment in 2023, the Supreme Court will have a total of 28 Judges (including the Chief Justice, and four Justices of the Court of Appeal), one Judicial Commissioner, six Senior Judges and 19 International Judges.

Issued by: Prime Minister’s Office