Two new judicial commissioners appointed

The Chief District Judge and a corporate lawyer have been appointed judicial commissioners of the Supreme Court for a term of one year.

Mr Tan Siong Thye, 59, who helmed the Subordinate Courts, started his term on Oct 1 and Mr Lee Kim Shin, 53, a managing partner at law firm Allen & Gledhill, starts on Jan 2 next year.

With these appointments, the Supreme Court will have 15 judges, including Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and five judicial commissioners.

Judicial commissioners have the same powers and functions as Supreme Court judges, but are appointed for a specific period.

They were first introduced in 1986 to get senior lawyers in private practice on the Bench, to help clear the backlog of Supreme Court cases.

Judicial commissioners can be made full judges, who can remain on the Supreme Court's bench until they are 65 years old.

Mr Tan was called to the Bar in Singapore in 1982 and started off his legal career as a deputy public prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers.

He was also the director of the Commercial Affairs Department from 1999 to 2008.

Most recently, he heard the the sex-for-grades corruption case of former National University of Singapore law professor Tey Tsun Hang.

On his new appointment, Mr Tan said he was "honoured" but sad to leave the Subordinate Courts where he had worked for 20 years.

"As I packed my things to leave the office, I had mixed feelings and experienced moments of sadness," he said. "This is my most favourite and memorable posting."

When he took over as the Subordinate Courts' top judge in 2008, the task "appeared very daunting", he said. He credited his colleagues and the staff for their "encouragement and inspiration".

Mr Lee, who specialises in corporate and commercial law, especially in the area of mergers and acquisitions, was called to the Bar in 1986.

Replacing Mr Tan will be Senior District Judge See Kee Oon, who has more than 20 years of judicial experience.

He started his term as Chief District Judge on Oct 1.

Meanwhile, District Judge Ong Hian Sun, who started out in the civil service as an engineering service officer, and later became a legal service officer, will take over Mr See's role.

The two judicial commissioners were appointed by President Tony Tan Keng Yam, in concurrence with the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.

yuenc@sph.com.sg