Visit by The Right Honourable the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury

NUS Law hosted The Right Honourable the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus on 22 September 2015.

Dean Simon Chesterman, Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) David Tan and members of the faculty participated in a lively discussion with Lord Neuberger in the Lee Sheridan Conference Room. Lord Neuberger introduced himself with a candid insight into his unusual position of being President of the UK Supreme Court and not having a law degree. “Being a scientist set me apart from my peers,” quipped Lord Neuberger.

Professor Ng-Loy Wee Loon then kicked off the discussion which continued into an engaging discourse between Lord Neuberger and the group on a range of legal topics including privacy laws, patenting the human gene, the decision making process in the appellate courts, videotaping court proceedings and shipping law.

Lord Neuberger was in Singapore to speak at the 22nd Singapore Academy of Law Annual Lecture.
His talk titled, “Is Nothing Secret? Con¬fidentiality, privacy, freedom of information and whistleblowing in the internet age”, was well attended by academics and practitioners alike on 21 September 2015 at the Supreme Court of Singapore.

About The Right Hon the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
Lord Neuberger becomes the second President of the UK Supreme Court since it was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. He previously held the post of Master of the Rolls from 1 October 2009.

Lord Neuberger was made a Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1987 and became a Bencher for Lincoln’s Inn in 1993. His first judicial appointment was as a Recorder from 1990 until 1996 when he was appointed a High Court judge in the Chancery Division and was then the Supervisory Chancery Judge for the Midland, Wales and Chester and Western Circuits 2000 – 2004.

In January 2004 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. He also led an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the barrister profession. In 2007 he was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a life peer as Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury in the County of Dorset.

(Information taken from The Supreme Court, UK)