SINGAPORE - Justice Chao Hick Tin stepped down from his role as senior judge of the Supreme Court on Wednesday (June 1) after 55 years in the public service.

He is the only judge to have served under all four chief justices since Singapore's independence and has held many key public service positions, said the Supreme Court in a statement on Thursday.

On behalf of the Singapore Judiciary, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said: "A model jurist, Justice Chao personifies the very essence of what it means to be an excellent judge."

He added: "Well known for his steadfast composure, patience, humility, kindness and attentiveness, he is not only admired and respected for his sharp intellect and his extremely fine legal mind, which are things reflected in his work, but he is also much loved by all of us on the Bench and by the legal community as a whole."

Justice Chao, 80, began his legal career as a state counsel in the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1967 and rose up the ranks as a Supreme Court judicial commissioner in 1987.

In 1999, he became a Court of Appeal judge and was later appointed its vice-president, a position he held till he retired in 2017.

He then took on the role of senior judge of the Supreme Court in 2018.

Justice Chao was also the vice-president of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), and between 2003 and 2006, the Singapore Mediation Centre chairman and the Asean Law Association president.

His work has earned him many awards, including a Public Service Star. In 2018, he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the National University of Singapore, and honorary member for life and fellow for life by the SAL.

He has handled several landmark cases, such as the execution of convicted murderer Jabing Kho in 2016, which he highlighted in a 2017 interview with The Straits Times.

He said then that the case raised the important question as to the test to be applied in determining whether a convicted murderer should suffer the penalty of death or that of life imprisonment and caning. The court ultimately ruled in favour of the death penalty given the savage manner of the attack.

In recognition of his work, Justice Chao received a rare valedictory reference when he stepped down as a judge of appeal in 2017.

The event to mark the occasion was attended by Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who revealed how in 1968, Justice Chao played a key role in securing Singapore's long-term water security when he represented the country at a United Nations event, following its separation from Malaysia in 1965.

Justice Chao said in a statement on Thursday: "I feel greatly privileged to have had the opportunity to serve Singapore and be a part of this illustrious Judiciary and thus be able to contribute in some ways to the nation's jurisprudence."