History & Milestones

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History & Milestones

The Faculty of Law is part of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the oldest tertiary institution in Singapore. NUS traces its rich history to the founding of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905. The Medical School was renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1912. In 1949, it merged with Raffles College (itself set up in 1929) to form the University of Malaya.

The roots of the Faculty of Law lie in the establishment of the Department of Law in the then University of Malaya in 1956. The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the University in 1957. In 1959, the Department attained Faculty status with Professor Lionel Astor (“Lee”) Sheridan serving as the founding Dean. The pioneer class of law students graduated in 1961, counting among its most illustrious members Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-Large and former Dean), former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, former Dean Thio Su-Mien, and Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian.

In the early 1960s, the governments of Singapore and Malaya announced their desire for the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur divisions of the University of Malaya to become autonomous national universities in their respective territories. Thus, on 1 January 1962, the University of Singapore was born. Singapore was admitted to the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The union lasted until 9 August 1965, when Singapore became an independent republic. Throughout this period and thereafter, the Faculty of Law continued to flourish as part of the University of Singapore. In 1980, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University (Nantah) were merged to form the National University of Singapore (NUS). With that, the Faculty of Law became part of the modern NUS, simultaneously moving to its new Kent Ridge campus.

A quarter century later, it was announced that the Bukit Timah campus would be returned to NUS. The Faculty of Law, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and several research institutes made the move from Kent Ridge back to the hallowed grounds of Bukit Timah, opening its doors there once again on 17 July 2006.

Milestones

1956 - 1965

	1956 Arrival of Dr Lionel Astor Sheridan Dr Lionel Astor Sheridan takes up his duties as the first Professor of Law and Head of the Law Department at the University of Malaya. 1957 Admission of first law students The first law students are admitted to the Department of Law. Among them are former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong ’61, former ambassador to the United Nations Tommy Koh ’61, Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian ’61, and former Dean Thio Su Mien ’61.
Dr LA Sheridan Dean, 1956-1962	1959 Origins of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies The University of Malaya Law Review is published (the journal was later renamed the Malaya Law Review and subsequently, the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, which continues to this day). Lionel A Sheridan elected as first Dean The Department of Law attains Faculty status and Professor Sheridan is elected as its first Dean. 1960 The Government of the Federation officially recognises the University of Malaya law degree as an initial qualification to enter the legal profession. The Asia Foundation generously endows the Constitutional Law Professorship. Professor Harry E Groves, former Dean of the Southern Texas University Law School, becomes the first Constitutional Law Professor.
Pioneer batch of law graduates.	1961 Professor Leslie C Green is appointed to the newly-created Chair of International Law, and Commercial Law is introduced as a principal subject. The pioneer batch of 22 law students graduates; 8 of them subsequently join the Faculty as assistant lecturers or part-time teachers.
	1962 University of Singapore formed The University of Singapore is established following the reconstitution of the University of Malaya.
Dr BL Chua Dean, 1962-63	B L Chua appointed as Dean Lee Sheridan leaves to take up the Chair of Comparative Law at Queen’s University in Belfast. Chua Boon Lan (B L Chua) succeeds Sheridan as Dean of the Faculty.
Prof Harry E Groves Dean, 1963-64	1963 Founding Dean Sheridan honoured The University confers an honorary L.L.D. on founding Dean Lee Sheridan. Harry E Groves appointed as Dean Harry E Groves succeeds BL Chua as Dean. Groves secures a grant of US$300,000 from the Ford Foundation to purchase books for the Law Library, to institutionalise scholarships and to fund research projects and staff recruitment.
	Leslie C Green takes over as Dean On 16th September, Singapore joins the Federation of Malaysia. In November, Leslie C Green succeeds Harry Groves as Dean.
Prof J L Montrose Dean, 1965-66	1965 Faculty names James Louis Montrose as Dean On 9th August, Singapore becomes an independent republic. In September, Leslie Green leaves the Faculty and is succeeded by James Louis Montrose.

1966 - 1980

	1966 Geoffrey W Bartholomew takes over as Dean James Montrose completes his term as Dean and Ford Foundation Visiting Professor and is succeeded by Geoffrey W Bartholomew 1967 Ford Foundation Grant for Development established The Ford Foundation grants US$450,000 to develop the Faculty by providing for visiting professors and teaching fellows, advanced training and teaching experience for local staff, and consultant services for the Law Library and its expansion.
Dr Thio Su Mien ’61 Dean, 1968-1971	1968 Dr Thio Su Mien ’61 becomes youngest appointed Dean Dr Thio Su Mien ‘61, the Faculty’s first alumnus to join its teaching staff in 1962, is appointed Vice-Dean. At the close of Geoffrey Bartholomew’s term as Dean at the end of the year, Thio is elected Dean, making her the first woman, the first local graduate, and the youngest person ever to be Dean of the Faculty.
	1969 Birth of Singapore Law Review The student journal, Me Judice, is transformed into the Singapore Law Review (SLR). The SLR continues to this day as a student-run publication. 1970 Inauguration of Braddell Memorial Lecture Series The Faculty inaugurates a new public lecture series, the Braddell Memorial Lecture. The Lecture was named after the late Dato’ Sir Roland Braddell, the scion of Singapore’s most illustrious legal family.
Prof Tommy Koh ’61 Dean, 1971-1974	1971 Tommy Koh ’61 takes over as Dean Thio Su Mien leaves for private practice and is succeeded as Dean by her classmate, Tommy Koh ’61. Koh holds the distinction of being the first graduate to have attained First Class Honours from the Faculty. At the time of his appointment, Koh had just returned from his stint as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
	1973 Faculty participates in Jessup Moot The Faculty sends its first team to the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition in the United States, which is held annually in Washington DC. The Jessup Moot is now regarded as the most prestigious international mooting competition in the world. To date, the NUS Faculty of Law holds the record as the law school with the most number of victories at the moot – four in total.
Prof S Jayakumar ’63 Dean, 1974-1980	1974 S Jayakumar ’63 succeeds Tommy Koh as Dean Jayakumar has been serving the university as a law lecturer from 1964 to 1971. After three years of serving as a diplomat, Jayakumar returns to the Faculty as Dean
Prof Tan Sook Yee Dean, 1980-1987	1980 Faculty appoints Tan Sook Yee as Dean Jayakumar leaves the Faculty to enter politics. He is succeeded by Tan Sook Yee as Dean. Tan Sook Yee has been teaching Property Law at the Faculty since 1964.
	Formation of National University of Singapore With the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University, the Faculty becomes part of the modern National University of Singapore.

1981 - 1990

1981

Youngest judge appointed to High Court
Justice Lai Kew Chai ’66 was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court on 1 July 1981. At 40 years of age, he was the youngest judge to be appointed to the High Court

1982

First Philip C Jessup win
Represented by V K Rajah ’82, Davinder Singh ’82, Jimmy Yim ’82 and Steven Chong ’82, the Faculty wins the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition for the first time.

1985

Second win for NUS Law team in Jessup Competition
NUS Law wins the Jessup Competition for the second time, represented by Anjali Iyer ’85, Lim Kien Thye ’85, Mohan Pillay ’85, Prithipal Singh ’85 and Eleanor Wong ’85.

1987

Tan Lee Meng ’72 appointed Dean
Tan Lee Meng ’72 succeeds Tan Sook Yee as Dean. As Dean, Tan recruited many young faculty who later became the core of NUS Law.

1991 - 2000

	1991 Creation of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies The Malaya Law Review is renamed the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.
Assoc Prof Chin Tet Yung Dean, 1992-2001	1992 Chin Tet Yung takes over as Dean Tan Lee Meng is succeeded by Chin Tet Yung as Dean. Tan is appointed the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and later a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore. (In 2013 he returns to NUS Law after 16 years in Public Service.)
	1993 NUS Law establishes David Marshall Professorship The David Marshall Professorship is established in honour of David Marshall, pre-eminent criminal lawyer and also Singapore’s first Chief Minister and subsequent Ambassador to France. Professor Francis Reynolds of Oxford becomes the first David Marshall Professor. 1994 NUS Law wins the Jessup Competition a third time Represented by Ang Cheng Hock ’95, Jayanthi Sadanandan ’95, Tan Ken Hwee ’94, Michael Ewing-Chow ’95, and Christopher Daniel ’94, NUS Law wins the Jessup Competition for the third time. Development of exchange programmes NUS Law begins to develop student exchange programmes with leading law schools in Canada, Australia, England, and the United States. First Female Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Lai Siu Chiu ’72 became the first female judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
	1996 Establishment of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) is established by NUS Law together with the Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
	C J Koh Professorship NUS Law receives a $2 million donation from retired lawyer and philanthropist, C J Koh, to set up the C J Koh Professorship in Law. The late Mr Koh’s additional bequests finance the renovation of the Law Library, now renamed the C J Koh Law Library.
	1997 *Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law* NUS Law launches its second academic journal, the Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law. 1998 Establishment of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies The Centre for Commercial Law Studies builds on NUS Law’s extensive experience in commercial law teaching and research and involves a range of faculty whose interests cover a wide spectrum of commercial law subjects.

2001 - 2010

Prof Tan Cheng Han S.C. Dean, 2001-2011	2001 Creation of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies The Malaya Law Review is renamed the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.
	First law school to win the Jessup Competition four times NUS Law becomes the first law school in the world to win the prestigious Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition four times. The Faculty is represented by Sangeeta Subbrahmanyam ’01, Chan Ho Ming ’01, Kabir Singh ’02, Davinia Aziz ’02 and Jason Chan ’02.
	2002 Yong Shook Lin Professorship established NUS Law receives a gift of $2 million from Chief Justice Yong Pung How LLD ’01 and Mrs Yong Wei Woo to establish the Yong Shook Lin Professorship in Intellectual Property Law.
	First copy of LawLink The first issue of LawLink – NUS Law’s alumni magazine – is produced.Launch of Legal Writing Programme The Faculty launches a comprehensive Legal Writing Programme – a first in Asia - to equip law students with analytical, research, writing and communication skills.Debut in Willem C Vis Moot In its debut effort, NUS Law is the first Asian law school to win the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna.
	2003 Specialist Masters programmes The Faculty launches three specialist Masters (L.L.M.) programmes in corporate and financial services law; international and comparative law; and intellectual property and technology law. Professorship in Maritime Law The Faculty receives a gift of $4 million from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to endow a Professorship in Maritime Law. Asian Law Institute launched The Faculty establishes the Asian Law Institute (ASLI) with nine other leading law schools in Asia. The ASLI Secretariat is housed at the Faculty. The Faculty launches a specialist Masters (L.L.M.) programme in Chinese Law with its ASLI partners, Peking University and the East China University of Politics and Law. 2004 *Singapore Year Book of International Law* The Singapore Year Book of International Law succeeds the Singapore Journal of International & Comparative Law, thereby completing a process which began with the first scholarly documentation of Singapore's international law practice in 1977. Partnership with East China University of Politics and Law The Faculty partners one of China 's top law schools, the East China University of Politics and Law (ECUPL), to offer a specialist Masters of Law (L.L.M.) degree in International Business Law in Shanghai from July 2005. Champions of Asia Cup International Law Moot Court Competition NUS Faculty of Law wins the Asia Cup International Law Moot Court Competition International Humanitarian Law Moot victory The NUS Law team, sponsored by the Singapore Red Cross, emerges as Champions in the 2nd International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot Competition held in Hong Kong.
	2005 Double degree programmes NUS Law launches two double honours degree programmes with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and NUS Business School consecutively: Economics and Law, Business Administration and Law.
	Space law victory NUS Law wins the Asia Pacific Regional of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition. Return to Bukit Timah Campus It is announced that the Bukit Timah Campus will be returned to NUS. NUS Law makes its historic move home to Bukit Timah, where it all began, the following year.
	2006 Oxford IP Moot victory NUS Law participates in the Oxford International Intellectual Property Mooting Competition for the first time and beats leading universities to win it. 2007 Celebrating 50 years of Legal Education in Singapore From modest beginnings, NUS Law is now recognised as Asia’s Global Law School. A series of events are held to commemorate this milestone, culminating in the 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner. Partnership with NYU NUS Law partners with New York University School of Law to launch an LL.B.-LL.M. concurrent degree programme, enabling NUS Law undergraduates to complete their degree and earn a Master of Laws degree from NYU in four years. A similar programme enables students to earn an LL.B. from NUS Law and a J.D. from NYU in five years. NUS Law and NYU also launch a dual Master of Laws programme - NYU@NUS - where students are based in Singapore and earn an LL.M. from NUS (with or without specialization), and an LL.M. in Global Business Law from NYU in one year. 2008 Center for Transnational Legal Studies created NUS Law is a founding member of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS), a London-based joint venture with premier law schools from around the world. Law of Obligations NUS Law is the first law school in Asia to host the prestigious biennial conference on the Law of Obligations (“Obligations IV”).
Assoc Prof Chan Wing Cheong becomes the inaugural Amaladass Fellow	2009 Victory in the Copenhagen Competition: Protocol on Climate Change The NUS Law team's submission is presented to the Danish Prime Minister and other key players involved in the negotiations for the Copenhagen Protocol. Inaugural Asian Law Deans Forum NUS Law hosts the first Asian Law Deans Forum on Legal Education. Supported by the Temasek Foundation, it brings together 45 deans and leaders of law schools across the region Amaladass Fellowship NUS Law receives a gift of S$1 million from an anonymous donor to establish the Amaladass Fellowship in memory of the late legal practitioner Mr M Amaladass. Associate Professor Chan Wing Cheong is appointed the inaugural Amaladass Fellow.
Prof Tan Yock Lin is appointed as the inaugural Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor. Professor Walter Woon ’81 is appointed as David Marshall Professor.	2010 Clinical Legal Education Programme launched NUS Law creates Singapore’s first Clinical Legal Education Programme to promote hands-on learning and inculcate pro bono spirit in law students. Appointment of the Inaugural Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor NUS Law launches the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professorship in honour of former Dean Professor Geoffrey Bartholomew. Professor Tan Yock Lin is appointed the inaugural Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor. Former AG Prof Walter Woon ’81 Appointed as David Marshall Professor Former Attorney-General Professor Walter Woon ’81 is appointed as the David Marshall Professor. Association of Transnational Law Schools (ATLAS) NUS Law is invited to join ATLAS, a leading consortium of law schools focusing on doctoral programmes. Ella Cheong Intellectual Property Scholarship & Student Loan Fund NUS Law receives a $1 million gift from lawyer Ms Ella Cheong to support awards in Intellectual Property law and provide financial assistance through bursary awards and student loans.

2011 - 2015

Class of 1961 celebrates 50th Anniversary	2011 Partnership with Boston University NUS Law partners with Boston University (BU) to allow selected NUS law students to pursue an LL.M. at BU during their fourth year of undergraduate studies. Partnership with ICJ and World Bank NUS Law partners with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and World Bank to create fellowships for graduates to work in The Hague and Washington, DC. Pioneer class celebrates 50th anniversary NUS Law’s pioneer class celebrates the 50th anniversary of their graduation with the establishment of the Lionel A Sheridan Professorship in honour of the Faculty’s founding dean. *The Asian Journal of International Law* is launched** The journal of the Asian Society of International Law is produced by NUS Law, with Profs Simon Chesterman and Simon Tay as two of the three founding editors. Joel Lee wins Outstanding Educator Award This is the highest honour awarded by NUS for teaching excellence. Remembering Madam Kwa Geok Choo NUS Law launches a series of initiatives to recognise Madam Kwa, including a professorship in property law, a bursary, a scholarship, and the Kwa Geok Choo Distinguished Visitors Programme
Prof Simon Chesterman Dean, 2012-present Prof Roger Fisher, a pioneer of modern negotiation practice and teaching.	2012 Simon Chesterman takes over as Dean Prof Simon Chesterman is appointed Dean. He joined NUS Law from NYU in 2007, becoming Vice Dean of Graduate Studies in 2010, overseeing all of the graduate programmes at NUS Law, including the Master of Laws and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. University Scholars Programme (USP) NUS Law joins as USP’s 7th Partner, offering selected students a deeper interdisciplinary dimension to their classroom and curricular experiences. Centre for Asian Legal Studies created The Centre is the first of its kind to be established in Asia, building on NUS Law’s collaborations with other law schools around the region as the Secretariat of the Asian Law Institute (ASLI). Singapore International Arbitration Academy launched NUS Law and the Centre for International Law stage the inaugural Singapore International Arbitration Academy. Roger Fisher Prize in Negotiation established The new prize honours Professor Roger Fisher, one of the pioneers of modern negotiation practice and teaching. Wee Chong Jin Scholarships in Law The Wee Chong Jin Scholarships in Law will support two scholars a year, focusing on those students who are active in community or charity work, and display a spirit of sportsmanship and collegiality. Mooting successes NUS Law students win the International Negotiation Competition in Belfast, the inaugural International Banking and Investment Law (IBAIL) Moot Court Competition in Jaipur and the Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championships in Jakarta. Expanding Pro Bono NUS Law establishes a Pro Bono Office to oversee the growing number of student pro bono activities and to look into the implementation of a more comprehensive programme. Mentoring the future The Law Alumni Mentor Programme (LAMP) is launched, linking first and second year students with recent alumni to provide insights and guidance to the practice of law. A new Advisory Council Former Dean, Professor S Jayakumar ’63, chairs a new Advisory Council to provide counsel and support to the decanal team, as well as acting as a liaison between the Law School and the legal profession in Singapore and internationally.
Emeritus Professor Peter Ellinger. Professor Saw Swee Hock Mr Lee Kuan Yew and NUS Chancellor President Tony Tan, together with NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan. Dean Simon Chesterman addresses the gathering of over 80 law school leaders at the Global Deans Forum.	2013 Centre for Law and Business launched The Centre for Law and Business seeks to enhance and promote research and educational opportunities for faculty, students, legal practitioners and business executives who share a common interest in the fields of Law, Business and Economics. Peter Ellinger Visiting Professorship NUS Law establishes the Peter Ellinger Visiting Professorship to honour Emeritus Professor Peter Ellinger’s immense contribution to the development of legal education in Singapore. The Riady Scholarship NUS Law partners with the Riady family to create scholarships for outstanding Indonesians looking to further their law graduate studies at NUS Law. H L Wee Scholarship & H L Wee Mooting Fund The Wee family pledges an endowed gift to NUS Law in honour of the late Harry L Wee to create a scholarship and funds to support NUS Law’s mooting teams participating in international competitions. Saw Swee Hock Centennial Professorship in Law The Saw Swee Hock Centennial Professorship in Law is created through a donation from Prof Saw Swee Hock. It will be used to appoint and support a strategic hire to raise education and research in NUS Law to greater heights. Honorary Degree for Lee Kuan Yew NUS awards an honorary doctor of laws degrees to Singapore’s founding Prime Minister. Dean Chesterman serves as the public orator, delivering a citation in Mr Lee’s honour. NUS Law hosts inaugural Global Deans Forum Organised by NUS Law and the International Association of Law Schools, the Forum attracts more than 80 law school leaders who adopt the “Singapore Declaration on Global Standards and Outcomes of a Legal Education”. Elizabeth Haub Prize Koh Kheng Lian ’61 receives the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law, in recognition of her important and pioneering contributions to its development and evolution. Former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong ’61 joins NUS Law Mr Chan becomes NUS Law’s first Distinguished Fellow. He was a member of the inaugural batch of law students admitted in 1957 to what was then the University of Malaya. Recognition by the profession At the Singapore Academy of Law’s 25th Anniversary Dinner, Profs Ng-Loy Wee Loon ’87 and Goh Yihan ’06 receive the Singapore Law Merit Award. Profs Debbie Ong ’89 and Eleanor Wong ’85 are presented the SAL Merit Award. National Day honours Associate Dean Goh Mia Yang ’92 is awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze). This year’s ceremony features Selena Tan ’94 as the creative director. Sheridan Fellowships launched Named after NUS Law’s founding Dean, Professor Lionel (“Lee”) Sheridan, the initiative is aimed at graduates with experience or expertise in Singapore Law who have an interest in pursuing a career in academia.
Prof Jeffrey Pinsler Prof Ho Hock Lai '89 Launch of Centre for Law & Business Launch of Centre for Banking & Finance Law Assoc Prof Debbie Ong	2014 Curriculum Review implemented The review of the curriculum concludes a multi-year process led by Dean Chesterman and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Prof Ng-Loy Wee Loon. Changes from August 2014 include a reduced focus on grades, greater exposure to civil law, and more opportunities for experiential learning. Prof Jeffrey Pinsler Appointed as Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor Prof Pinsler takes on his new title on 1 April 2014 from Prof Tan Yock Lin who was the inaugural Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor since 2010. Appointment of Inaugural Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice Built upon the Amaladass Fellowship that was first established in 2009 in memory of the late legal practitioner Mr M Amaladass, the generous contribution of the anonymous donor has enabled the set-up of the Amaladass Professorship of Criminal Justice. The honour of being appointed as the inaugural Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice went to Prof Ho Hock Lai ’89. Launch of First Online Portal for Pro Bono Projects 'Start Now Law', an online portal for pro bono projects, is launched to encourage and enhance students’ involvement in legal pro bono activities. The portal is the first of its kind on pro bono work in Singapore. Students and pro bono host organisations can post pro bono opportunities in the portal and students can sign up for these opportunities directly with the host organisations. Students will also be able to track their own pro bono activities on the portal throughout their education at NUS Law, which they can present as a record to future employers. Upon completing the pro bono activities, students will also be presented with certificates of participation. Launch of Centre for Law & Business (CLB) The Centre for Law & Business is set up to promote research and educational opportunities in Business Law. The centre is helmed by two notable experts in law and business - Professor Tan Cheng Han from NUS Law; and Associate Professor Lan Luh Luh, who holds a joint appointment with NUS Law and NUS Business School. Launch of Centre for Banking & Finance Law (CBFL) The centre will focus on important aspects of banking and finance law and regulation, including financial industry reform, new regulations, and private law issues. Leading the centre is Associate Professor Dora Neo as Director of CBFL, and Deputy Director, Associate Professor Alexander Loke. Assoc Prof Debbie Ong Appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the High Court Assoc Prof Ong is one of four who have been appointed as Judicial Commissioners, of which she is the only academic. She begins her two-year term of office with effect from 17 November 2014. An expert in family law, she has been active in serving the legal profession and the community. She has been appointed amicus curiae to the Supreme Court of Singapore in family matters and was also a volunteer Family Court Mediator in the Family Court for a decade. In recognition of her work to the legal profession, she was awarded the Singapore Academy of Law Merit Award and the Legal Aid Bureau Amicus Award in 2013.
Prof Alec Stone Sweet	2015 Prof Alec Stone Sweet Appointed Inaugural Saw Swee Hock Centennial Professor in Law Professor Alec Stone Sweet, an internationally renowned professor of comparative constitutional law and comparative politics, begins his new appointment at NUS Law in January 2016. Prof Stone Sweet who was tenured at the Yale Law School since 2004, has accepted a tenured full-time position at NUS Law as the Inaugural Saw Swee Hock Centennial Professor in Law.
Former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong	Former CJ Mr Chan Sek Keong Appointed as NUS Pro-Chancellor Mr Chan Sek Keong, former CJ of Singapore has been appointed as Pro-Chancellor of the University. The appointment made by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of the Republic of Singapore and NUS Chancellor, takes effect from 29 April 2015.
Winning team for the Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot 2015	NUS Law Students Win Inaugural Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot 2015 Final year law students Jeremiah Lau, Benjamin Wong and Lisa Tan beat teams from University of Helsinki, Maastricht University, University of Leeds, as well as the competition’s host university King's College London, to reach the finals where they triumphed over the team from University of Amsterdam to clinch the champion title. The team also impressed the international panel of judges, recording the highest score among all 12 teams at the end of the preliminary rounds. Lisa Tan wins the Best Oralist prize, achieving a perfect score of 50 out of 50, while Jeremiah Lau and Benjamin Wong were two out of four runners-up.
International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Team 2015	NUS Law Wins 16th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot 2015 The NUS Law team comprising Ms Chow Qilei Cassandra, a fourth-year NUS law student, and recent graduates Ms Syazana Yahya, Mr Tay Jia En, Mr Dinesh Sabapathy and Ms Hannah Tay Shi-en, beat the team from University of Hong Kong to clinch the champion title. NUS Law also won the Oral Rounds of the competition.The team defeated Erasmus University, Universidad Carlos III De Madrid, Gujarat National Law University and University of Sydney en route to the finals. This is the fourth time NUS Law has won the competition. The faculty’s team won the competition when it was first initiated in 2000, and subsequently in 2001 and 2010. NUS teams were runners-up in 2004 and 2013.
Launch of Centre for Maritime Law	Collaboration with MPA on the Establishment of Centre for Maritime Law (CML) & Professorship in Maritime Law CML will focus on commercial maritime law. Established with funding from the MPA and the Ministry of Law, CML’s primary focus will be to spearhead maritime law research in Singapore and in the region, as well as enhance the knowledge and expertise amongst the shipping community in Singapore. It will also support and enhance the teaching of maritime law among undergraduates and postgraduate students. The centre is led by Professor Stephen Girvin, and he is joined by Associate Professor Paul Myburgh, formerly of the University of Auckland, as Deputy Director of the centre.Professor Girvin, who has been a faculty member of NUS Law since 2008, was appointed as the inaugural MPA Professor in Maritime Law.

2016 - 2017

	2016 Establishment of Pro Bono Awards The Pro Bono Champion Award recognises young alumni of NUS Law who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions towards pro bono work. The Pro Bono Leadership Awards recognise law students who have shown outstanding leadership and commitment towards pro bono work on a sustained basis, and whose contributions have led to significant developments in pro bono opportunities for law students. Two new grants - NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Award and the RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Award – are also established to provide financial support for student pro bono projects. More details here Six New Prizes Set-up to Recognise Students Who Excel in Their Subject Fields The subject prizes recognise students who excel in six subjects, namely intellectual property law, carriage of goods by sea, charterparties, international commercial litigation, law of torts and freedom of speech. These awards have been established through generous gifts totalling S$90,000 from institutions and donors who have a keen interest in legal education and the nurturing of top legal talent. More details here.
IASLA moot team 2016	NUS Law Tops IASLA Space Law Moot Court Competition NUS Law takes top prize at the International Air and Space Law Academy (IASLA) Space Law Moot Court Competition. The team of Year 2 students - Kiu Yan Yu ’18, Ong Chee Yeow ’18, Ephraim Tan ’18 and Manfred Lum ’18 were presented the trophy by Dr Ricky Lee, the Principal Administrator of the IASLA Space Law Moot.
Speaker of Parliament, Mdm Halimah Yacob ’78	Halimah Yacob ’78 Conferred Honorary Doctor of Laws Speaker of Parliament, Mdm Halimah Yacob ’78 was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Laws at this year’s main Commencement ceremony on 7 July at the University Cultural Centre. The honorary degree is in recognition of her outstanding contributions to Singapore and the community, and was presented to Mdm Halimah by NUS Chancellor and President of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam.NUS Law Team Wins Nuremberg Moot Court Competition The NUS Law team were the overall champions at the Nuremberg Moot Court Competition organised by the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, Nuremberg and the Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg. Victor Leong ’16, Joshua Hiew ’17, Mehaerun Simaa ’16 and Hairul Hakkim ’16 won after defeating teams from the United States, Pakistan, Rwanda, the United Kingdom and Brazil. Joshua Hiew ’17 received the additional honour of being awarded Best Speaker for the Final Round.
Asia Cup Moot Court Competition team 2016	Champions of Asia Cup Moot Court Competition After an absence of six years, Team NUS Law marked its return to the Asia Cup Moot Court competition with stunning success. The team, comprising Kiu Yan Yu '18, Dana Chang '18, Ephraim Tan '18, Ong Chee Yeow '18 and Charlotte Wang '18, pulled off a clean sweep of the top prizes including the Best Overall Team, Best Memorial and Best Oralist (Dana Chang ’18). This is only the third time in the Cup’s 19-year history that a team has managed to achieve such a feat.
	APCEL Celebrates 20th Anniversary The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) celebrated its 20th Anniversary on 10 November 2016 at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House, NUS (Kent Ridge Campus), together with two degree programmes on the environment – the MSc (Environmental Management) [MEM] and the Bachelor in Environmental Studies (BES) programmes which celebrated their 15th and 5th Anniversaries respectively. The highlight of the celebrations was a joint conference on “Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals – Environmental Law, Policy and Management” that took place from 9 to 11 November 2016.
	2017 Singapore Academy of Law Undergraduate Scholarship for Needy Students Established The scholarship was established through a generous gift from the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL). The scholarship which will amount to approximately $300,000 over an initial term of 5 years aims to enable outstanding students who are financially needy to have the opportunity to read law. More details here.
Winning team of Lex Infinitum 2017	NUS Law wins Lex Infinitum 2017 The team of Kok Chun Hou ’17, Joshua Woo ’17 and Lee Yew Boon ’19 was awarded Best Overall Team at Lex Infinitum 2017. Lex Infinitum is an international Mediation and Negotiation Competition hosted by the VM Salgaocar College of Law in Goa, India. The 2017 iteration featured 24 shortlisted teams from law schools all around the world.
	Launch Guidebook on Practice of Muslim Law Speaker of Parliament Madam Halimah Yacob ’78 launched the new guidebook by NUS Law students entitled “Navigating Muslim Law in Singapore” at the student-run Syariah Law Forum 2017, which was held in partnership with I.R.B. Law LLP, NUS Muslim Society, NUS Pro Bono Group and ARLC Law Corporation.
Air Law Moot Team 2017	International Air Law Moot Competition Champions The NUS Law team - comprising fourth year students Kelvin Choo '17, Charlene Wee '17 and Lim Hao Jie '17 - defeated the Indian national champion, the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), to lift the tournament trophy.
	NUS Law Wins IMLAM Competition for the 5th Time The team featuring Douglas Lok '17, Nicholas Tan '18, Law Jia Hao '17, Leung Liwen '17 and Wang Yufei '17, won the hard-fought Grand Final against the University of Queensland (UQ) on 5 July 2017. Douglas Lok was also named “Best Speaker in the General Rounds”.This was NUS Law's fifth win in this competition; the previous wins were in 2000, 2001, 2010, and 2015 (runners-up in 2004 and 2013).
PM Lee, Dean Simon Chesterman and members of the Barker family	Launch of EW Barker Centre for Law & Business and EW Barker Bursary NUS Law recognised the legacy of Mr EW Barker, Singapore’s first and longest-serving Law Minister, by renaming the Centre for Law & Business (CLB) after him and launching a student bursary in his honour. Singapore Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong officially launched these initiatives in the presence of Mrs Gloria Barker, wife of the late Mr Barker, and members of the Barker family at an event held at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus.
Class of 1961 with the Class of 2017	Commencement 2017: 60th Anniversary of 1st Intake This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the first intake of Law students at NUS and the faculty is particularly delighted to welcome several members from this first cohort (the Class of 1961) who were present to share the celebrations.Presiding over the ceremony was former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong '61, NUS Pro-Chancellor, and the ceremony's guest speaker was the Honourable V.K. Rajah SC '82, former Attorney-General and Judge of Appeal. The Class of 1961 were also represented by Ambassador-at-Large, Professor Tommy Koh '61, Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian '61, Ms Tan Leng Fong '61, Ms Aileen Lim '61, Mr Amarjeet Singh SC '61, Mr Foo Yew Heng '61, and former Solicitor General Mr Koh Eng Tian '61.
	NUS Law wins Asia-Pacific Commercial Mediation Competition Team NUS Law takes top position at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Commercial Mediation Competition! The team is made up of Cheah Wenjie ’19, Cheng Le En Leanne ’19, Lim Wei Shen Mark ’19, and Liu Siew Rong ’19. The competition was held in Melbourne, Australia, from 7 - 9 July 2017, and was organised by the Australia International Chamber of Commerce as a regional round leading up to the annual Paris ICC Mediation competition.
Prof James Penner	Professor James Penner Appointed as the Kwa Geok Choo Professor of Property Law Professor James Penner has been appointed as the Kwa Geok Choo Professor of Property Law with effect from 1 July 2017. Professor Penner, who is also the Vice Dean for Research at the faculty, works primarily in the area of property and trusts, as well as law and theory.
	60th Anniversary Celebrations Dinner NUS Law celebrated 60 years of legal education in Singapore with a glittering anniversary dinner on 20 October at the Shangri-La hotel. The event was attended by The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon ’86 as the Guest-of-Honour, former deans, and more than 300 faculty members, students, eminent alumni and members of the legal fraternity, benefactors and other supporters of NUS Law. The evening was filled with fun and nostalgia, and featured performances by an alumni quintet and founder of the Dim Sum Dollies, Selena Tan ’94.
The Lamp of the Law: 60 Years of Legal Education at NUS Law	The Lamp of the Law: 60 Years of Legal Education at NUS Law Written by legal historian Dr Kevin Tan ’86, The Lamp of the Law: 60 Years of Legal Education at NUS Law chronicles the development of NUS Law through the decades in six chapters, spanning some 200 pages.
	NUS Law Student Support Fund The fund was established to provide financial assistance to law students. Examples of financial support include bursaries and book grants for financially needy students; and grants for students to take part in local and overseas mooting competitions as well as student exchange programmes.

2018

	2018 Appointments to the 2018 Advisory Council Professor S Jayakumar ’63 continued his leadership as the Chair of the Advisory Council, a post he has helmed since the setup of the Advisory Council in 2012. The 2018 Advisory Council members included Ms Sushma Jobanputra, Ms Amy Lee ’82, Honourable Justice Andrew Phang ’82, Mr Andrew M Lim ’85, LLM ’88, Mr Gregory Vijayendran ’92, Ms Ginney Lim ’84 and Mr Hri Kumar Nair ’91.
	Launch of the NUS Law Academy Launched on 12 November, the NUS Law Academy provides skills-based, industry-relevant courses necessary for upskilling or reskilling, to enable professionals to remain competitive in the job market. Mr Edwin Tong ’94 (Senior Minister of State for Law and Health) launched the NUS Law Academy with Professor Simon Chesterman (Dean), Associate Professor Umakanth Varottil PhD’10 (Director (NUS Law Academy) & Director (Graduate Coursework Studies), NUS Law) and Professor Susanna Leong (Vice Provost (Lifelong Education), NUS) at the graduation ceremony for the Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice (GCCJ) programme held at the NUS Kent Ridge Campus.
From left: Associate Professor Arif Jamal (NUS Law), Justice Debbie Ong ’89, Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo ’03 (NUS Law), Professor David Tan (Vice Dean (Academic Affairs), NUS Law) and Mr Amrin Amin ’03 (Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Health)	NUS Law launched the Muslim Law Practice Course NUS Law launched the inaugural Muslim Law Practice Course (MLPC) on 13 October 2018. This course is a collaboration between NUS Law, the Syariah Court of Singapore, and the MUIS Academy, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (MCCY). The first of its kind to be conducted in Singapore, this course serves to fill a gap in systematic legal training in Muslim Law practice in Singapore.
	NUS Law won the NUS B.A Mallal Moot 2018 NUS Law presented thoughtful and intriguing submissions on the constitutionality and breach of 377A of the Penal Code at the NUS B.A Mallal Moot 2018 on 12 October 2018. NUS Law student Ong Kye Jing ’21 emerged as Champion, Abigail Fernandez ’21 was the first runner-up while Ng Weiqi ’21 and Benedict Tedjopranoto ’20 were the second runners-up.
	NUS Law won The Attorney-General’s Cup for the fourth time The Attorney-General’s Cup is Singapore’s only criminal law moot and is jointly organised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the SMU Moot Court Club and the NUS Criminal Justice Club. Natalee Ho ‘20 and Gwendolyn Oh ’21 emerged as champions of the competition. Natalee also won the Best Oralist award. This is the fourth consecutive win for NUS Law.
	NUS Law won the Dentons Rodyk Moots 2018 Organised with the support of the NUS Legal Analysis Research & Communications (LARC) Programme, Dentons Rodyk Moots is a mooting competition to showcase the best of the LARC mooters. Natalee Ho ’20 emerged as Champion while Wee Jong Xuan ’21 and Dion Chan Khoon Hong ’21 received the first runner-up and second runner-up awards respectively. Abigail Fernandez ’21 and Shaun Cheng Si Yuan ’21 received the Merit Award.
	NUS Law won the Gowling WLG Intellectual Property Moot 2018 Ryan Kwan ’20 and Elizabeth Teoh ’20 emerged as Champion and runner-up respectively at the Gowling WLG Intellectual Property (IP) Moot organised by the NUS Law Mooting and Debating Club, in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).
	NUS Law won the 11th Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot NUS Law emerged as Champions at the 11th Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot held in Germany. The team consisted of Low Jia Rong ‘19, Emmanuel Aw ‘19, Violet Huang ‘20 and Tan Fong Han ‘20. Our students also received the Gary Born Award for the Best Non-OECD team.
	NUS Law won inaugural INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition NUS Law emerged first and second place at the 1st INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition held in February, ahead of 21 teams from eight countries. The winning team consisted of Loo Fang Hui ‘18, Jonathan Teo ‘18, Sheryl Tan ‘19 and Tan Ming Ren ‘20.
	NUS Law won the 3rd International Carey Moot Court Competition NUS Law participated for the first time in the 3rd International Carey Moot Court Competition in Prague, Czech Republic in June. The team consisting of Joelle Loy ‘20, Violet Huang ‘20, Adeline Tan ‘20, and Daniel Ling ‘20 emerged as Champions. They also won top prizes in numerous categories such as Best Team Oral Arguments, Award for Best Team and Award for Best Written Memorial.
	NUS Law won the International Air and Space Law Academy Moot Court Competition Abigail Wong ‘20, Yvette Tay ‘20, Gwendolyn Oh ‘21 and Sophia Yew ‘20 emerged champions at the International Air and Space Law Academy Moot Court Competition, Asia Pacific Regional Round held in Sydney, Australia. This is NUS Law’s fourth consecutive win at the Regional Round.

2019

	2019 Honourable Justice Andrew Phang Boon Leong ’82 appointed the new Chairman of the Advisory Council Honourable Justice Andrew Phang Boon Leong ’82 was appointed the new Chairman of the NUS Law Advisory Council, taking over from Professor S Jayakumar ’63. Justice Phang spent over 20 years as an academic before being appointed to the bench in 2005.
Professor M Sornarajah appointed as Emeritus Professor	Professor M Sornarajah appointed as Emeritus Professor Professor M Sornarajah was appointed as Emeritus Professor in recognition of his distinguished career at the Faculty and outstanding contributions to the field of law. Professor Sornarajah joined the NUS Law in 1986, and was promoted to full professor in 1995. His book, International Law on Foreign Investment, is one of the leading texts on foreign investment.
	NUS Law launched The Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and the Law (TRAIL) NUS Law launched a research unit – The Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & the Law (TRAIL) on 5 December 2019. The launch was graced by Mr Edwin Tong '94, Senior Minister of State for Law and Health, at the 8th Asian Privacy Scholars Network (APSN) Conference. TRAIL aspires to be an international think-tank that enables inter-disciplinary communities to research into legal, ethical, policy, philosophical and regulatory questions associated with the use and development of information technology (IT), artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics and robotics in the practice of law.
	The Chandra Mohan K Nair Scholarship NUS Law alumni Chandra Mohan K Nair ’76 and Susan de Silva ’83 established The Chandra Mohan K Nair Scholarship which recognises, cherishes, and celebrates NUS Law undergraduates’ personal qualities as much as their scholastic achievements.
	NUS Law was the Regional Champion at the 23rd Annual Stetson Environmental Moot NUS Law recorded its first-ever regional victory in the Southeast Asian round of the 23rd Annual Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition held at the University of the Philippines, College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City. The team of Jiang Zhifeng ’23, Clara Low Puay Cheng ’22, Pranay Suryavanshi ’19 and Isabella Tan ’21 went up against the incumbent champion University of Philippines in the finals, finishing champions for the first time and clinching 2nd Best Memo in the competition.
	NUS Law wins Lex Infinitum 2019 NUS Law students, Lee Zhicong ’21, Jerald Tan ’22 and Abigail Wong ’20, took top honours at this year's Lex Infinitum competition held in Goa, India. Lex Infinitum aims to promote the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in India as well as abroad. Abigail and Jerald finished as the best negotiating pair.
	NUS Law won the Gowling WLG Intellectual Property Moot 2019 NUS Law won the 2019 Gowling WLG IP Moot competition in a clean sweep that saw the Grand Finals being competed between four NUS Law students namely Arjit Pandey ’22, Elisabeth Liang ’19, Joshua Ng ’21 and Samuel Teo ’21.
	NUS Law emerge Champions at Jessup National Round NUS Law defeated their counterparts from SMU to emerge as Champions at the Singapore National Round of the 2019 Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, held at the Singapore Court of Appeal on 23 February 2019. The NUS Law team of Ayana Ki ’19, Low Ee Ning ’19, Melody Lau ’19, Darren Sim ’20 and Lucas Lim ’20 swept all of the prizes, including Best Memorials. Ee Ning and Melody were tied for the Best Oralist award.
	NUS Law won the National Round of International Negotiation Competition 2019 NUS Law students Kimberley Pah ’19 and Levin Lin ’20 won first place at the inaugural National Round of the International Negotiation Competition 2019 held at SMU Law School on 16 March 2019.
	US Law won Advocacy Cup 2019 NUS Law students dominated the Advocacy Cup 2019 in an all-NUS final. Samuel Wittberger ’21 emerged as the Overall Champion, followed by First Runner-up Nikhil Angappan ’21 and Second Runners-up Nicholas Chia ’21 and Ho Linming ’20.
	NUS Law won the 10th Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot for the second time V Santhosh ’19, Liew Zhi Hao ’19 and Carina Tay ’19 emerged as champions at the special 10th edition of the Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition. This is the second time that NUS Law has won this competition. The team also clinched the Best Oral Arguments Awards for both Applicant and Respondent, while V Santhosh received a special mention for Best Oralist.
	NUS Law was Regional Champion at IASLA Space Law Moot for the fifth time Leong Kit Weng ’21, Chong Fu Shan ’22, Lee Kay Han ’22 and Ong Hui Wen ’22 emerged as champions at the Asia-Pacific Regional Rounds of the International Air and Space Law Academy (IASLA) Space Law Moot Court Competition 2019. NUS Law has won the regional rounds five consecutive times in a row. Lee Kay Han was also named the Best Advocate in the competition.
	Champions at BlackOak Transactional Negotiation Competition Darren Chen ’22, Shayna Robinson ’22 and Suraj Bagalkoti ’22 emerged as champions at the BlackOak Transactional Negotiation Competition 2019. Shayna also received the award for Best Negotiator. Another NUS Law team comprising of Kwok Wai Kit ’21, Lay Chang Yao ’21, Darryl Lau ’21 and Trixie Ng ’21 were the runners-up.
	Victory at ADR ODR International Negotiation Bootcamp and Ad Hoc Negotiation Competition NUS Law clinched the Gold Medal and the Best Negotiation Phrase/Strategy Award at the inaugural ADR ODR International Negotiation Bootcamp and Ad Hoc Negotiation Competition, held in Dubai. Joel See ’23, Jaypy Pillay ’22 and Lee Yee Teng ’22 delivered an outstanding performance after four intense rounds of negotiation against 36 international participants.
	NUS Law won the Tun Suffian International Human Rights Moot for the second time The NUS Law team comprising Abhishek Srivastava ’21, Choo Qian Ke ’21, Ng Wei Qi ’21 and Stella Lee Hyun Jo ’21 emerged as Champions of the Tun Suffian International Human Rights Moot Court Competition 2019 that was held in Malaysia. Abhishek also received the Best Oralist Award. This marks NUS Law’s second consecutive victory in the competition that is held biennially.

2020

Naming of the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court
The Wee Chong Jin Moot Court was launched on 7 February 2020 in honour of Singapore's first Chief Justice. The naming ceremony was attended by NUS Pro-Chancellor and former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, Mrs Cecilia Wee and members of the Wee family. NUS Law launched the fundraising campaign in 2016 to name the Moot Court after Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin. The funds raised will be used to support student learning and activities, including mooting and other competitions, as well as other international opportunities that enhance the advocacy and legal practice skills of NUS Law students.

From left: Leong Wai Kum, Chin Tet Yung, Robert Beckman

Leong Wai Kum, Chin Tet Yung and Robert Beckman appointed by NUS as Emeritus Professors
Professor Leong Wai Kum, Associate Professor Chin Tet Yung and Associate Professor Robert Beckman were appointed by NUS as Emeritus Professors in recognition of their distinguished careers at the Faculty and outstanding contributions to the field of law.In her four decades of teaching, Professor Leong Wai Kum has trained a generation of students in both the compulsory module of Torts and her area of deepest expertise: Family Law. Her defining book Elements of Family Law in Singapore was first published in 2007, with a second edition in 2012 and a third edition in 2018.Associate Professor Chin Tet Yung served as Dean of the Faculty from 1992 to 2001, a period that saw the launch of exchange programmes with partner universities around the world and the establishment of NUS Law’s first two research centres: APCEL and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, succeeded today by the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business.With a global reputation as a scholar of Ocean Law, and as an expert on the South China Sea, Associate Professor Robert Beckman has helmed a transformative role in the lives of most of Singapore’s international lawyers and the many international students with whom he has had contact. His pioneering work on the Jessup Moot led NUS Law to a record number of victories.

Professor S Jayakumar ’63 was appointed Pro-Chancellor of NUS and Emeritus Professor
Professor Jayakumar joined the NUS Law in 1964, and became the Dean a decade later. He took leave from 1980 in order to enter politics, serving as Minister for Law, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Labour, as well as holding the positions of Deputy Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and Coordinating Minister for National Security. He has also served as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United Nations and was a member of its delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference. Prof Jayakumar’s experience litigating the Pedra Branca case before the International Court of Justice was one of the key factors that led him to support creating the NUS Centre for International Law (CIL), which quickly became one of the most influential international law research bodies in Asia.

Michael Bridge was appointed as the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor
In July 2020, Michael Bridge was appointed as the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor. Michael succeeded Jeffrey Pinsler who had served with distinction in the role since 2014.

Ho Hock Lai was appointed the inaugural Coomaraswamy Professor of the Law of Evidence
On 1 July 2020, Ho Hock Lai '89 was appointed as the inaugural Coomaraswamy Professor of the Law of Evidence. From 1959 to 1969, he taught the law of evidence at the Faculty as a Visiting Lecturer while practising at the Singapore bar.

Andrew Simester was appointed the Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice
On 1 July 2020, Andrew Simester was appointed as the Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice. A noted researcher on the fields of criminal law and legal philosophy, he has also served on the University Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Research Benchmarking Consultative Committee, and the Research Awards Committee. At NUS Law, he has served on the FPTC as a member from 2014-2017 and as Chair from 2015-2017. From July 2020 he also serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Legal Theory.

NUS Law alumni and student appointed Young IP Mediators by IPOS
Two of NUS Law’s alumni and a current student were appointed when The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) launched a new “Young IP Mediators” initiative. Levin Lin ’20, Chloe Chua ’20 and Utsav Rakshit ’21 will have the opportunity to participate in mediations concerning IP disputes as a shadow mediator or a co-mediator, as well as be involved in a range of projects to promote the goal of this initiative.

NUS Law celebrates students’ achievement in the establishment of COV-AID
Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, NUS Law students established a new pro bono project called COV-AID. Launched on National Day, COV-AID was created by students to help the public comprehend the vast array of laws, regulations and legal issues arising from the pandemic.

L to R: Lim Jia Ren ’21, Lee Hyun Jo ’21, Abigail Wong ’20, Choo Qian Ke ’21

NUS clinches First and Second Runners-up at the Linklaters-Denis Chang's Chambers Competition Law Moot 2020
Jointly organised by Linklaters and Denis Chang’s Chambers, the Hong Kong Competition Law Moot drew the participation of more than 20 teams. NUS Law sent five teams for the competition and we are delighted to announce that four NUS Law teams made it to the top eight. Those who were selected to proceed to the oral rounds were Abigail Wong ’20 and Choo Qian Ke ’21; Lee Hyun Jo ’21 and Lim Jia Ren ’21; Dinesh Kumar ’21 and Faye Ng ’21; Shaun Cheng ’21 and Zhao Junning ’21.

NUS Law holds inaugural Arts Week: The show must go on
The NUS Law Arts Week 2020 took place from 17 to 22 August this year. There were Welcome Teas from each of the 3 arts interest groups, a floral arrangement workshop, a career talk organised with the NUS Centre for Future-Ready Graduates (CFG), and a Finale Show!

Top L, R and middle: Jolene Gina Abelarde ’23, Nicole Marie Christopher ’23, Cheyenne Lim Yi-Ting ’23

Champions of the Online Dispute Resolution Competition
The Online Dispute Resolution Competition, organised by The PACT India, is a first-of-its-kind competition in India that aims to provide a platform for students to resolve commercial disputes through negotiation and for them to understand how technology interacts with the field of dispute resolution.Champion Team, Best Opening Statement and Top Negotiating Team (in the Preliminary Rounds)
Jolene Gina Abelarde ’23
Cheyenne Lim Yi-Ting ’23
Nicole Marie Christopher ’23

L to R: Phoon Yi Hao ’23, Melvinder Singh ’23, Kevin Tang ’23, Kyna Chew ’23

NUS Law comes up Top in the B.A. Mallal Moot 2020
The Grand Finals of the B.A. Mallal Moot 2020 was held over Zoom on 12 October this year. The competition saw 120 competitors, with the top four finalists engaging each other on an engrossing problem involving the topics of Patient Autonomy and the Personal Data Protection Act.Champion
Kevin Tang ’23

Second Runner-Up
Kyna Chew ’23 & Melvinder Singh ’23

Best Memorial
Phoon Yi Hao ’23

NUS Law clinches two awards at the 19th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition
Two of our NUS teams performed excellently at the 19^th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition (INC) organised by Sophia University. The virtual competition took place on 14-15 November and saw 233 participants from 25 teams across both the Japanese and English divisions, including strong competitors from Australia, Mongolia, Thailand, and Japan. The NUS contingent received the prestigious Sumitomo Competition Award, which is awarded to the contingent with the highest cumulative score in both arbitration and negotiation components. On top of that, they have also won the Squire Patton Boggs Award, awarded to the university that achieves the highest number of total points in the negotiation round in the English language division.

NUS Team 1
Tay Hui Ting ’24
Samuel Wee ’24
Jeriel Teo ’24
Kaezeel Yeo ’24

NUS Team 2
Glenda Tan ’24
Matilda Mag ’24
Yoon Shwe Yee ’24
Edwin Chan ’24

Outstanding Performance by NUS Law at the International Mediation Singapore (IMSG) 2020
Our NUS teams performed outstandingly well at the “International Mediation Singapore (IMSG) 2020”, an international moot organised by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) that focuses on mediation advocacy and mediation.IMSG2020 took place across two weekends (30 October – 1 November & 7 November – 8 November) this year, which ran entirely online in a non-elimination, power-matching gauntlet format. It was highly competitive with 48 teams, comprising of more than 200 competitors hailing from 31 different nationalities. Featuring the first multi-party mediation round in any competition, there were also Team Engagement activities to help competitors network and get to know each other.

Emeritus Professor Leong Wai Kum honoured with Family Law Prize
NUS Law is delighted to launch of the Leong Wai Kum Prize in Family Law, which will be awarded for the first time at the end of this academic year to the best student in the module Family Law. The prize recognises Emeritus Professor Leong Wai Kum’s tremendous impact on the development of Family Law in Singapore, and her outstanding contributions to NUS Law in the course of her 40-year career.

2021

	Champions for the CMS Intellectual Property Moot 2021 The competition saw 60 competitors battling it out and after several gruelling online rounds, the finals were held on the 19th of January at the CMS Singapore Office. The topic was mostly centred around intellectual property issues, more specifically trademark and copyright infringement issues. Participants had to debate whether fictitious trademarks such as EYEPAD and EYEWATCH are protected by trademark law, and they also had to deal with the issue of whether a machine learning software can be an author of a literary work.Champion Benson Fan ’221st Runner-up Shannen Leong ’232nd Runners-Up Tan Wei Sze ’21 & Audity Tareq ’22
	Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian was awarded Environmental Lawyer of the Year 2020 Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian was bestowed the Environmental Lawyer of the Year 2020 (ASEAN) Award by ARIEL in recognition of her 20-year commitment to environmental rule of law, for her outstanding scholarship in environmental law and for the promotion of the concept of ASEAN Environmental Law. Professor Koh introduced environmental law to the NUS Law Faculty in 1994 and is founding director of APCEL.
	Singapore Jessup National Round to be renamed the Professor Robert Beckman Jessup National Round The legendary 1982 Jessup team has decided to honour the many contributions of Professor Robert Beckman by arranging for the Singapore Jessup National Round to be renamed the Professor Robert Beckman Jessup National Round. Professor Beckman played a transformative role in the lives of virtually all of Singapore’s international lawyers and the many international students with whom he has had contact. His pioneering work on the Jessup Moot led NUS Law to a record number of victories, primarily leading to the first-ever NUS Law victory with the 1982 Jessup team consisting of current well-known persons in the legal industry. Through his work, he has also raised the profile of international law.
	NUS Law ranked amongst Top 10 law schools in the world In the latest report by London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject 2021, NUS Law was ranked amongst the top 10 law schools in the world, and number one in the Asia-Pacific region. Having risen consistently in the rankings over the last decade, we are proud to have retained our position as the leading law school in Asia and reaffirmed our position in the legal fraternity and status as Asia’s Global Law School.
	NUS Law emerges as Champions at the Grand Finals of the International Commercial Arbitration Moot The Grand Finals of the International Commercial Arbitration Moot (ICAM) 2021 was held at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court on 3 March this year.Champion Chew Qing Xuan Kyna ’231st Runner-up Ryan Jay Naidu ’232nd Runners-up Don Loke Song Ze ’24 & Melvinder Singh ’23 Best Memorial Goh Cheng Wei Benjamin ’24
	NUS Law wins Lex Infinitum 2021 NUS Law students have again performed spectacularly, this time at the 6th VMSCL-AIDR International Dispute Resolution Competition (Lex Infinitum VI) held virtually from 21 to 27 February 2021.Champion in the Mediator category Sarfaroj Ahmed Malik ’241st Runners-up in the Negotiating Team category Ong Hui Wen ’22 Kaezeel Yeo ’24
	Champions for the NLIU INADR International Mediation Tournament 2021 Held virtually, the competition took place from 10 to 14 March 2021 and featured 42 skilled teams from India, Lithuania and the United States. After five gruelling days, the team consisting of Joshua Lim Jing Kai ’23, Jolene Gina Abelarde ’23 and Edwin Chan ’24, eventually triumphed over Boston University in the Grand Finals.
	NUS Law clinches the 2021 Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Championship The moot was organised by the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. For the first time, the moot was held virtually over two weeks and saw 43 teams from 21 countries participating. The team consists of Nicholas Chia ’21, Ng Wei Qi ’21, Shayna Robinson ’22, and Yeoh Su-Jane ’22.
	Champions of the INSOL International Fletcher Moot Court Competition Held virtually, the competition took place from 15 to 21 March 2021. The team qualified as the top seed for the knock-out rounds and was awarded the prize for the Highest Ranked Team after the Preliminary Rounds. Samuel Teo also placed 1st in the individual oralist rankings and received the award of Best Individual Mooter in the Preliminary Rounds. After a spectacular showing in the final round, Lim Jia Ren was named Best Individual Mooter in the Final Oral Round.
	The NUS Law team competes in the World Finals of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition and wins Best Oralist awards The international rounds usually held in Washington, D.C. were held online this year due to the pandemic, and the Championship Final held on Saturday, 17 April 2021, was judged by three sitting judges of the International Court of Justice. The team did us proud and ultimately emerged 1st runners up.Team members Abhishek Srivastava ’21 Arjit Pandey ’22 Bay Jia Wei ’22 Rebecca Loo ’21 Timothy Chong ’21Best Oralist (Championship Round) Bay Jia Wei ’22Best Oralist (Preliminary Rounds) Abhishek Srivastava ’21
	Teo Keang Sood, Tan Lee Meng and Tan Yock Lin appointed as Emeritus Professors Professors Teo Keang Sood, Tan Lee Meng ’72 and Tan Yock Lin have been appointed as Emeritus Professors in recognition of their distinguished careers at the Faculty and outstanding contributions to the field of law.
	NUS Law comes up Top in the 2021 Advocacy Cup The 2021 Advocacy Cup Finals was held on Wednesday, 31 March 2021, at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court. The preliminary rounds dealt with a contractual dispute involving the law of agency, while the semi-finals and finals dealt with a criminal offence of breaching a Stay-Home Notice under Regulation 3(3) of the Infectious Diseases (COVID-19 – Stay Orders) Regulations 2020.Champion Noah Lim '231st Runner-Up Suraj Lingaraj Bagalkoti ’222nd Runners-Up Teo Jin Yang, Anthony ’23 Vishnu Menon ’23
	NUS Law wins the 2020 International Negotiation Competition The INC is the oldest and most renowned international legal negotiation competition in the world. Due to the pandemic, the competition went online this year and comprised both INC International Rounds 2020 and 2021. It was hosted by the National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law, from 28 June to 3 July 2021.Team members Isabella Tan '21 Nikhil Angappan'21
	Meet the Deanery Professor Simon Chesterman Dean Professor Wayne Courtney Vice Dean (Academic Affairs and Undergraduate Studies) Associate Professor Arif Jamal Vice Dean (Graduate Studies) Associate Professor Eleanor Wong Vice Dean (Student Life & Global Relations) Professor Damian Chalmers Vice Dean (Research) Ms Jayagowry Appalasamy Associate Dean (Head of Administration)
	NUS Law emerges as Champions for the International Bar Association-Vienna International Arbitral Centre Mediation and Negotiation Competition 2021 The Competition took place virtually from 10th to 14th July which saw 33 shortlisted international student teams from different countries such as Brazil, the United States, Israel, Germany, India, and Italy. The team came face to face with the University of Sydney in the Grand Finals in an exciting rematch after meeting them in the Preliminary Rounds, and managed to emerge as Champions of the overall competition.Team members Chan You Quan '22 Vivien Tan '24 Charmaine Sng '22 Jeriel Teo '24
	NUS Law triumphed in the 4th INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Competition The competition challenges law students with important issues arising in trademark and unfair competition law in the region and fosters a healthy spirit of competition and camaraderie among participating teams.his year’s iteration of the INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Competition featured an additional stipulation – for teams to work independently, with no external help from professors or alumni. Nonetheless, NUS Law emerged victorious amidst the formidable competition, and have clinched the first and second place brief.1st place: Chen Rong, ’21, Benjamin Ho, ’21, Song Yihang, ’22 Richmond Xiao, ’222nd place: Adriel Ho, ’24 Lo Yin Peng, ’24 Navneeth Kanagavelu, ’24 Jarrett Chen, ’24
	Champions of the ALSA International Moot Court Competition 2021 The ALSA International Moot Court Competition (AIMCC) took place from 3^rd to 5^th September 2021. As it is considered an international moot, the competition involved teams from the Southeast Asian countries, India and Australia.Team members Toh Ding Jun ’22 (Team Leader and Best Speaker in the Finals) Austen Lim ’23 (2nd Best Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds) Perl Choo ’23
	NUS Law clinched Best Presentation Award in the International Youth Legal Exchange Conference 2021 NUS Law clinched the “Best Presentation Award” in the International Youth Legal Exchange Conference (IYELC) organised by the International Youth Legal Exchange Federation and the Department of Justice of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The virtual competition took place on Saturday, 11 September 2021, which saw delegations from 11 jurisdictions. Delegates were expected to write an essay exploring access to justice in their respective jurisdiction and to present their findings.Team members Zephan Hwang ’24 Glenda Tan ’24
	NUS Law emerges Champions for the APIIT Law School International Negotiation Competition 2021 The competition is Sri Lanka’s first international negotiation competition of any kind, and took place virtually from 17 to 19 September, with 16 international student teams from different countries including Norway, India and Sri Lanka competing for the top spot.Team members Nicholas Phang ’24 Shannen Chua ’23 Heather Ng ’24 Ernest Chua ’22
	NUS Law ranked 8th globally NUS has been placed eighth globally for the study of Law, by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by subject. Placed 12^th in the previous ranking, it rose four notches to become the first Asian university to achieve a top 10 position in the subject.
	NUS Law emerges as Champions for the 2021 LAWASIA International Moot Competition Team members Samuel Wee '24 Karthik Yvas ’24 Nguyen Minh Tri ’24
	NUS Law made a clean sweep at the B.A. Mallal Moot 2021 Winner Audity Tareq '221st Runner-up Johan Ding '24Joint 2nd Runners-up Dakshayani Ravindran ’24 and Elizabeth Koh ’24 Best Memorial Joshua Foo '24
	NUS Law wins the 20th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition (INC) Sophia 2021 NUS Team A Damian Lee ’25 Khor Jia Wei ’25 Whang Chia Ning ’25 Samuel Tay ’25 NUS Team B Feng Yuxin ’25 Vivien Sim ’25 Nicholas Ong’ 25 Kenneth Tan ’25
	NUS Law showcases excellent performance at the International Mediation Singapore (IMSG) 2021 Teams below received medals for Mediation Advocacy and Mediation, respectively: NUS Team 35 (Gold, Gold) Kaezeel Yeo '24 Don Loke '24 Leanne Chee '24 Ben Ng '24 NUS Team 37 (Gold, Gold) Melvin Seto '25 Gracia Chua '25 Darius Lee '25 Sia Yun Xin '25 NUS Team 39 (Gold, Bronze) Ernest Chua '22 Muhammad Syazwan '24 Sachna Kaur '24 Jotham Ng '24

2022

Champions for the CMS Intellectual Property Moot 2022
The local competition saw 57 competitors battling it out and after several gruelling online rounds, the finals were held on the 21 January 2022 live at the NUS Law Moot Court. The top 4 finalists engaged each other on an interesting problem involving the topic of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and intellectual property law. After an exciting performance by the finalists, NUS Law would like to congratulate our winners for their rousing performance at the finals!Champion
Kevin Tang ’231st Runner-up
Valerie Lim An Qi ’222nd Runners-Up
Chen Tong Hao Jarrett ’24 and Shaun Hue Yong Shan ’25

	NUS Law wins the John H Jackson WTO Moot Competition Asia Regional Round 2022 We are delighted to announce that during the John H Jackson WTO Moot Competition Asia Regional Round held online between 17 to 20 February 2022, NUS Law won despite a series of unrelated Covid-19 infections that affected 3 out of 4 of the team members, during the lead-up and throughout the competition finals! The winners of the NUS Law WTO Moot Team 2022 consisted of: Jack Hu LLM ’22 Ang Kai Le ’22 Samuel Koh ’22 Gerry Zhang ’22
	NUS Law emerges as Champion in the Mediation category for Lex Infinitum 2022 Congratulations to David Zhang ’24 for emerging as the Winning Mediator, and Ashley Teh ’22 and Andrew Ng ’22 for emerging as Quarter-Finalists at the Lex Infinitum International Dispute Resolution Competition 2022. This is the third year running that NUS Law has clinched the Mediator championship and the fourth consecutive year that our Negotiating Team has made it to the Quarter-Finals.
	NUS Law clinches Top place once again at the NLIU INADR International Mediation Tournament 2022 Celester Tan ’24, Chloe Kho ’25 and Melvin Seto ’25 emerged as the Champion Negotiation team, as well as the 1st Runner-Up for Mediation in the 10th NLIU INADR International Mediation Tournament 2022. The team was the only team to have advanced into the finals for both the client-counsel and mediation categories.
	NUS Law showcased outstanding performance at the Virtual International Mediation Competition 2022 Ashley Ong ’25, Lee Hilman ’25 and Darius Lee ’25 obtained top place at the MediateGuru 2nd Virtual International Mediation Competition 2022.Held from 24 – 27 March 2022, the team went through 2 preliminary rounds before getting past the semi-finals and emerging champions in the finals of the competition! The team was also scored the highest out of 44 participating teams for the 2 preliminary rounds.
	Excellent results in the CDRC x SULS Bilateral Mediation Competition Tan Yin Xuan ’25 and Beatrice Yeo ’25 achieved excellent results at the CDRC x Sydney University Law Society (SULS) Bilateral Mediation Competition 2022.The participants had the honour of testing their skills as mediators and be judged by professional mediators and negotiators from Singapore and Australia. It aimed to promote cohesiveness and cultural exchanges between the two law schools amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
	1st place (Team of Mediators) goes to NUS Law for the UCF Conciliator Mediation Tournament held in Florida Samuel Tay Zi Bin ’25, Clement Yew Yee Han ’24 and Muhammad Syazwan Bin Ramli ’24 achieved 1st and 3rd place in the Mediation Team and Advocate/Client Team categories, respectively.The competition was held in-person from 1-2 April 2022, at the University of Central Florida. The team underwent three rounds of mediation, mediating and negotiating disputes across a variety of topics such as family matters, worker’s rights and compensation, and business-consumer negligence.
	Winner of vLex's 2022 International Law and Technology Writing Competition Rahul Vyan Nayar ’24 won the vLex’s 2022 International Law and Technology Writing Competition. Following an extremely close competition, with entries from students all over the world, Rahul won with a thought-provoking article on Thaler, Artificial Intelligence and the Law.
	NUS Law clinches Top place once again for the 2022 Advocacy Cup The 2022 Advocacy Cup Final was held on Thursday, 31 March 2021, at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court. After three rounds of competition, NUS Law would like to congratulate our winners for their outstanding performance at the finals.Champion Karthik Vyas ’24 1st Runner-Up Jolene Gina Abelarde ’23 2nd Runners-Up Mavis Zhang ’24 and Zephan Hwang ’24
	NUS Law made a clean sweep at the Grand Finals of the International Commercial Arbitration Moot 2022 NUS Law once again excelled at the Grand Finals of Wong Partnership International Commercial Arbitration Moot, held at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court, on 18 February this year.Champion Dakshayani Ravindran ’24First Runner-up Ng Wei ’24Joint Second Runners-up Elizabeth Koh Yuan ’24 and Sarfaroj Malik ’24
	Tommy Koh, Walter Woon and Jeffrey Pinsler appointed as Emeritus Professors Professors Tommy Koh ’61, Walter Woon ’81 and Jeffrey Pinsler have been appointed as Emeritus Professors in recognition of their distinguished careers at the faculty and outstanding contributions to the field of law.
	NUS Law Master of Laws (Maritime Law) programme has been ranked Most Popular School in the World, by LLM Guide Academic research and teaching in commercial maritime law continue to be front and centre of NUS Law Centre of Maritime Law’s (CML) work with the recent funding agreement signed by the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) and Centre for Maritime Law (see here) in January earlier this year. This good news has been followed closely with NUS Law being ranked the “Most popular school” for the Master of Laws (Maritime Law) programme this year by LLM Guide, solidifying the Faculty’s and SMI’s vision to drive a world-class global maritime knowledge hub driven by research and innovation.
	NUS Law emerged as the Champions of the 8th Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot 2022 This international moot competition was conducted in-person at King’s College London, where 12 teams were selected from an initial pool of over 40 participant teams to present their oral submissions on a moot problem dealing with the regulation of mergers in oligopolistic markets. The NUS Law team was represented by Stanley Woo ’22, Samuel Ye ’22, Brandon Wong ’23 and Zhong Tianyu ’23. The team coach was Associate Professor Burton Ong ’99.
	Professor Simon Chesterman appointed as the David Marshall Professor of Law Simon is Vice Provost for Educational Innovation at NUS, where he is also Dean of both NUS College and the Faculty of Law, as well as Senior Director of AI Governance at AI Singapore. He is also Editor of the Asian Journal of International Law and Co-President of the Law Schools Global League. Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, he has taught at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Southampton, Columbia, and Sciences Po.
	Professor Andrew Simester appointed as new Dean of NUS Law A world-leading researcher in criminal law, Professor Andrew Simester takes over as Dean of NUS Law in January 2023 from Professor Simon Chesterman, who has served as Dean since January 2012.
	Professor Simon Chesterman awarded the Singapore Law Merit Award at the SAL Appreciation Dinner & Awards Night Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is President, SAL, presented the Singapore Law Merit Award to Dean Simon Chesterman for his efforts to develop Singapore law.
	NUS Law emerges as Finalists at the inaugural Rajah & Tann Moot Court Competition 2022 Congratulations to Chua Rui Yuan ’23 (Champion) and Samuel Wee ’24 (Runner-Up) for their stellar performance at the Rajah & Tann Moot Court Competition!