PMO Press Release: Appointment of Judge of the High Court and Judicial Commissioners of the Supreme Court

The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(1) of the Constitution, has appointed Judicial Commissioner Kwek Mean Luck (郭民力) as Judge of the High Court with effect from 1 April 2022.

2.       At the same time, in accordance with Article 95(4)(a) of the Constitution, the President has appointed the following as Judicial Commissioners (JC) of the Supreme Court:

• Mr Goh Yihan (吴亦涵) for a term of two years with effect from 1 July 2022
• Ms Teh Hwee Hwee (郑慧慧) for a term of 18 months with effect from 1 August 2022

JC Kwek Mean Luck

3.       JC Kwek graduated with Bachelor of Laws (1st Class Honours) from Cambridge University in 1995 and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard University in 2000. He began his legal career in the Supreme Court in 1998, serving first as a Justices’ Law Clerk in the Supreme Court, and subsequently as Assistant Registrar and Senior Assistant Registrar. He also held appointments in the Administrative Service, including as Deputy Secretary (Industry) in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Deputy Secretary (Development) in the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister’s Office and as Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Service College.  JC Kwek was appointed Second Solicitor-General in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) in 2015 and Solicitor-General in 2017. He was also appointed a Senior Counsel in 2017.

4.       As a JC of the Supreme Court, his areas of specialisation include building and construction, shipbuilding, finance, securities, banking, shipping and insurance, intellectual property and tort matters. In addition to his judicial work, JC Kwek also co-chairs the Singapore Judicial College (SJC) cluster as part of the Singapore Judicial Service Implementation Committee as well as the Corporate Development and Services cluster in the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL). JC Kwek was appointed JC on 4 January 2021 for a period of 18 months.
         

JC Kwek will be appointed High Court Judge with effect from 1 April 2022

Mr Goh Yihan

5.       Mr Goh graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law with a Bachelor of Laws (1st Class Honours) in 2006 as the valedictorian and obtained his Master of Laws from Harvard University in 2010. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 2011. Having served as a Senior Justices’ Law Clerk and subsequently as an Assistant Registrar, Mr Goh has been in academia since leaving the Supreme Court in 2008.

6.       Mr Goh first joined the NUS Faculty of Law as a Teaching Assistant in 2008 and was appointed Assistant Professor in 2011. He then joined the Singapore Management University (SMU) as an Associate Professor in the Yong Pung How School of Law (formerly known as SMU School of Law) in 2014 and was appointed Associate Dean (Research) in January 2016. At the age of 35, he became Dean of the Yong Pung How School of Law for a term of five years in July 2017. He is concurrently a Professor in the Yong Pung How School of Law, a position he has held since July 2019 and continues to be active in the Singapore legal profession. He was appointed a Senior Counsel in January 2021.

7.       Mr Goh is Vice President of the SAL as well as board member of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education and the SJC. He is also a Professorial Fellow of the AGC Academy and has served as amicus curiae to the Court of Appeal on numerous occasions.

Mr Goh will be appointed JC with effect from 1 July 2022

Ms Teh Hwee Hwee

8.       Ms Teh is currently the Registrar of the Supreme Court, a position she has held since 9 April 2019. She started her career in the Legal Service in 1992, as one of the first women appointed to the post of an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court. She went on to serve in different capacities and hold various appointments in the Judiciary and the Legal Service, including as State Counsel in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the first Executive Director of the Singapore Mediation Centre, the first Divisional Registrar of the Court of Appeal and the first Divisional Registrar of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).

9.       Ms Teh has been instrumental in driving a number of major reforms throughout her career. In the 1990s, she was involved in promoting the use of mediation in our court processes, establishing the Singapore Mediation Centre and developing the alternative dispute resolution landscape in Singapore. Related to that work, she co-authored the Singapore edition of the book “Mediation - Principles Process Practice” and was co-editor of the book “An Asian Perspective on Mediation”. She also played a key role in establishing the SICC in 2015, and in leading a team in developing the SICC Rules 2021 that will come into force on 1 April 2022 to enhance its procedure and practice as an international commercial court of choice. Most recently, she oversaw the establishment of the Appellate Division of the High Court in 2021 and the transition to the new appellate structure in the Supreme Court.

10.      Ms Teh obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore and a Master of Laws from Harvard University. She has been admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and an Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. She was conferred the Public Administration Medal in 2012.

Ms Teh will be appointed JC with effect from 1 August 2022

11.      Mr Tan Boon Heng, who is currently the Official Assignee and Public Trustee in the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office will succeed Ms Teh as the Registrar of the Supreme Court with effect from 1 August 2022.

12.      With the above appointments, the Supreme Court will have a total of 29 Judges (including the Chief Justice and four Justices of the Court of Appeal), two Judicial Commissioners, four Senior Judges and 18 International Judges.

PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

25 MARCH 2022