Christopher Tan to take over from Vincent Hoong as Presiding Judge of the State Courts

SINGAPORE: Justice Christopher Tan Pheng Wee has been appointed as Presiding Judge of the State Courts with effect from Jan 1 next year, said Singapore Courts (SG Courts) on Wednesday (Oct 1).

He will be taking over from Justice Vincent Hoong Seng Lei.

As Presiding Judge of the State Courts, Justice Tan will have overall responsibility for its leadership and management. He was appointed to the role by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said SG Courts in a media release.

Justice Tan has presided over the trial of Ng Yu Zhi, the businessman accused of masterminding an alleged nickel investment fraud involving almost S$1.5 billion.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (1st Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1998 and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard University in 2003.

He has held numerous postings in the legal service, working in agencies including the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Competition Commission of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Supreme Court and State Courts.

Justice Tan held the positions of Registrar of the State Courts and Deputy Presiding Judge of the State Courts concurrently before being appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court in October 2023.

A Presiding Judge of the State Courts must be a Supreme Court judge or judicial commissioner.

Justice Tan was also appointed a High Court judge in August this year, focusing on cases in building and construction, shipbuilding, finance, securities, banking and complex commercial cases.

His other focus areas include company, insolvency, trusts, medical negligence tort claims, defamation, professional negligence, statutory torts and criminal trials.

He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2011.

JUSTICE VINCENT HOONG

Justice Hoong will end his tenure as Presiding Judge of the State Courts on Dec 31, after holding the position since April 2020, said SG Courts. His appointment as a judge of the High Court will also end on the same date.

Justice Hoong graduated from NUS with a Bachelor of Laws in 1982 and joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1984.

He was posted to the then Subordinate Courts as a magistrate.

In 1986, he held the appointment of assistant registrar in the Supreme Court before returning to the Subordinate Courts as a district dudge from 1990 to 1997.

He was appointed Registrar of the Supreme Court in April 2015 and held the position until April 2019, when he was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court. He was appointed Judge of the High Court in January 2020. 

Among his most high-profile cases was the trial of former Transport Minister S Iswaran.

The judiciary expressed its appreciation to Justice Hoong for his contributions to the State Courts and Singapore’s justice system.

It noted how he steered the State Courts through the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced a range of measures to enhance the resilience of its operations. He also instituted fundamental redesigns to the mode in which State Courts hearings were conducted.

“Under his leadership, the State Courts cleared the backlog of cases arising from the vacation of hearings during the circuit breaker period within a year, bringing disposition rates back to an even keel.”

The State Courts have continued the post-pandemic transition to remote and asynchronous hearings, which were formally adopted for criminal pre-trial conferences and criminal case disclosure conferences in June 2023.

The courts pointed out that Justice Hoong had led the effort to establish the International Judicial Dispute Resolution Network.

This comprised judiciaries from across the common law and civil law traditions to promote the adoption of the Judicial Dispute Resolution process around the world.

He also oversaw the State Courts’ chairmanship of the International Consortium for Court Excellence, which was formed to develop an international framework for court excellence.

He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2015.

“I am deeply grateful to Justice Hoong, who has led the State Courts with great distinction,” said Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon.

“He has contributed significantly to our jurisprudence, having authored a number of important and influential judgments, especially in sentencing. He has my deepest appreciation for his distinguished service to the judiciary and to the wider public service.”

Justice Menon also welcomed Justice Tan as the State Court’s new Presiding Judge.

"I am confident that the State Courts will continue to advance their mission towards accessible justice through quality judgments, appropriate dispute resolution and innovative court services under his leadership," he added.