Appointment of Judges of the High Court

The President of the Republic of Singapore, on the advice of the Prime Minister, has appointed Mr See Kee Oon, and Mr Chua Lee Ming, presently Judicial Commissioners as Judges of the High Court under Article 95(1) of the Constitution. The appointments will take effect on 31 January 2017. 

The swearing-in ceremony for the appointments will take place on Wednesday, 1 February 2017 at the Istana.

Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon

Mr See Kee Oon (施奇恩) was appointed the Chief District Judge of the then Subordinate Courts on 1 Oct 2013, following more than 20 years of judicial experience. He continues to hold the appointment, now known as Presiding Judge of the State Courts. He was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court on 14 April 2014 for a period of 3 years.

During his tenure as a Judicial Commissioner, he continued to manage the State Courts while taking on a substantial load of adjudication work, including presiding over the City Harvest Church trial. Judicial Commissioner See has added strength to the Bench, chairing many committees including the Probation Committee, the Community Justice Centre and the Criminal Legal Assistance Steering Committee. He is also Deputy President of the Industrial Arbitration Court and a member of the Rules of Court Committee. In addition, Judicial Commissioner See is a Board member of the Singapore Judicial College and the Singapore Mediation Centre and a member of the Sentencing Council. He also sits on the MAS Appeals Advisory Panel, Military Court of Appeal as well as various committees in the Singapore Academy of Law.  

Judicial Commissioner Chua Lee Ming

Mr Chua Lee Ming (蔡利民) was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court on 1 February 2015 for a period of 2 years. 

Judicial Commissioner Chua joined the legal service in 1984, and has considerable and varied legal experience. He started as a Deputy Registrar, Magistrate and Coroner of the then Subordinate Courts in 1984. He served in the Supreme Court Registry for three years before becoming a Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Judicial Commissioner Chua became a partner of law firm, Lee & Lee, in 1991 and left to join GIC Pte Ltd in 1998 where he rose to the position of General Counsel before joining the Bench.
    
Judicial Commissioner Chua has contributed significantly to the Bench, particularly in the field of company law. He is also a member of the Civil Justice Commission, Civil Justice Steering Committee, the Singapore Management University School of Law Advisory Board as well as the Lawnet Management Committee of the Singapore Academy of Law. 

With the above appointments, the Supreme Court will have a total of 16 Judges (including four Judges of Appeal and the Chief Justice), 9 Judicial Commissioners, five Senior Judges and 12 International Judges.

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PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
SINGAPORE
12 JANUARY 2017