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Supreme Court appoints new senior judges

This article is more than 12 months old

Justice Chao Hick Tin will be appointed senior judge of the Supreme Court, among other changes to the Bench announced yesterday.

Justice Chao, who retired as a judge of appeal on Sept 28 after more than 50 years of public service, will begin his term as senior judge for three years starting Jan 5.

Justice Andrew Ang, Justice Tan Lee Meng and Justice Lai Siu Chiu will also be reappointed senior judges for three years, said the statement from the Supreme Court.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place on Jan 8 at the Istana.

Senior judges are former Supreme Court judges who are reappointed to the Bench for a term of three years.

During their tenures, these judges hear civil cases and other hearings such as urgent applications and various types of appeals to the High Court. They are assigned to handle specific cases or a class of cases as determined by the Chief Justice.

Justice Chao, 75, started his career as state counsel in the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1967. He became senior state counsel in 1979, and was appointed judicial commissioner in 1987.

Three years later, he was elevated to a High Court judge, and he became a judge of appeal in 1999.

Between 2006 and 2008, he served as Attorney-General, before returning to the Supreme Court as judge of appeal and vice-president of the Court of Appeal.

In his new appointment, Justice Chao will be a senior judge in the Court of Appeal.

Justice Ang, 71, retired in 2014. A year later, he returned to the Supreme Court as a senior judge.

Justice Tan, 69, joined the Supreme Court as a judicial commissioner in 1997 and was appointed a judge in the same year. He retired in 2013 and became a senior judge in 2015.

Justice Lai, 69, became the first woman to be appointed judicial commissioner in 1991 and the first woman judge of the Supreme Court in 1994.

It was also announced that Justice Chan Sek Keong and Justice Kan Ting Chiu will complete their terms as senior judges on Jan 4 next year.

COURT & CRIME