Appointment of International Judges (Dec 2024)

The President of the Republic of Singapore, in accordance with Article 95(4)(c) of the Constitution, has appointed three International Judges (IJs) to the Supreme Court bench. Justice Lady Mary Howarth Arden (玛丽.豪沃思.阿登女爵), Justice Anthony James Besanko (安东尼.詹姆斯.贝桑科) and Justice Anthony John Meagher (安东尼.约翰.米格尔) will be appointed as IJs of the Supreme Court of Singapore from 5 Jan 2025 to 4 Jan 2027. 

Justice Lady Mary Howarth Arden (United Kingdom)

Justice Arden read law at Girton College, Cambridge and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and an LL.M before completing a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School in 1970 as a Kennedy Scholar. She was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1971 and admitted to Lincoln’s Inn in 1973. From 1971 to 1993, Justice Arden was in practice as a member of Erskine Chambers, specialising in company law. She became a Queen’s Counsel in 1986 and served as Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1991 and 1993.

Justice Arden’s judicial career started in 1993 when she was appointed to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales on 30 Apr 1993, being the first female High Court judge to be assigned to the Chancery Division. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). Justice Arden served as the chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales from 1996 to January 1999.

In Oct 2000, Justice Arden was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and served till 2018. Between 2005 and Sep 2018, Justice Arden was Judge in charge and later, Head of International Judicial Relations for England and Wales. She initiated and organised bilateral exchanges between the senior judiciary of the UK and the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union and also with other important jurisdictions.

She was appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of UK in Oct 2018 and retired in 2022. She is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague. She has sat as an ad hoc UK Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Justice Arden is an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. She holds honorary degrees from University College London (2011), Liverpool John Moores University (2006), University of Nottingham (2002), University of Warwick (1999), Royal Holloway College London (1999) University of Liverpool (1998), University of Essex (1997). In May 2022 the Government of Japan conferred on her the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, for her work in promoting judicial relations between the UK and Japan. She is also an Honorary Professor of Law, King’s College London and a Yorke Fellow, Law Faculty, University of Cambridge.

Justice Arden was a member of the UK Department of Trade’s Steering Group of the Company Law Review from 1998 to 2001. The recommendations made by the Review and accepted by Government were enacted by the UK Companies Act 2006, then the largest statute in British history. Justice Arden was also a member of the Financial Law Panel set up by the Bank of England to address legal uncertainties affecting financial markets and the Law Society’s Standing Committee on Company Law. In 2011, she became a member of the UK’s National Group for the purposes of Article 4 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. She is presently a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, appointed by the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom.

Alongside her judicial experience, Justice Arden has also written extensively on how the law keeps pace with social change. Her two-volume book “Shaping Tomorrow’s Law” published in 2015, drew strongly from her knowledge of law reforms which she began to develop while serving as chair of the Law Commission of England.

Justice Arden’s areas of legal expertise include international and foreign relations law as well as all areas of civil law, including equity, trusts, company law, insolvency, partnership, property law, statutory interpretation, bankruptcy, choses in action, torts and contract law, constitutional and administrative law, human rights law and water law.

Justice Lady Mary Howarth Arden

Justice Anthony James Besanko (Australia)

Justice Besanko read law at the University of Adelaide, Australia and obtained a First Class Honours degree in 1977. He was called to the Bar in 1984 and practised as a barrister in South Australia working in the areas of corporation and administrative law, trusts, estates and native title from 1984 to 2001. He also undertook appellate work and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994.

Justice Besanko was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia in 2001 before becoming a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 2006. During his time on the Federal Court of Australia (2006-2024), Justice Besanko also served as an additional judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory from 2007 to 2024 and as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island from 2015 to 2024.

Justice Besanko’s commitment to the law and legal profession can be seen from the significant roles that he undertook within the profession. He was a member of the South Australian Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal from 1989 to 1998, and was a presiding member of the tribunal from 1998 until 2001. He was also President of the South Australian Bar Association from 2000 to 2001. Justice Besanko is the Deputy President of the Australian Academy of Law.

Justice Besanko’s areas of expertise include Commercial Law and Company Law, Equity, Public and Administrative Law, Intellectual Property, Bankruptcy and Company Liquidations as well as Appeals.

Justice Anthony James Besanko

Justice Anthony John Meagher (Australia)

Justice Meagher graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1976 with degrees in commerce and law. He then joined Minter Simpson as a solicitor. In 1980, he completed a Master of Laws degree at London University (LSE). In Feb 1982, he was called to the Bar in New South Wales and was appointed a Senior Counsel for that State in 1995.

Justice Meagher was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Court of Appeal in August 2011. By that time, he had spent almost 30 years practising principally at the commercial bar, including 16 years as a Silk. On his retirement in Aug 2024, he was the senior puisne judge on the Court of Appeal and during his time on that Court period, he also sat as a judge on the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Justice Meagher’s judicial experience is broad, comprising general civil and criminal law. His commercial law experience as a counsel and judge includes insurance and reinsurance, shipping and aviation, professional negligence, banking and finance, corporations and competition law as well as equitable and restitutionary remedies.

Justice Anthony John Meagher

With these appointments, the Supreme Court will have a total of 37 Judges (including the Chief Justice, three Justices of the Court of Appeal, four Judges of the Appellate Division, 18 Judges of the High Court, four Judicial Commissioners, and five Senior Judges) and 24 International Judges.

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PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
10 DECEMBER 2024