SINGAPORE - Justice Judith Prakash, Singapore's first and only female Judge of Appeal, will have her appointment extended by three years after her current term ends next Tuesday (Dec 18).
Four High Court judges will also have their tenures extended by two years upon reaching 65 years old next year, the Supreme Court announced on Thursday (Dec 13).
They are Justice Chan Seng Onn, Justice Lee Seiu Kin, Justice Choo Han Teck and Justice Belinda Ang.
Justice Prakash, 67, whose new term will begin next Wednesday, has served more than two decades in the Supreme Court.
She was appointed Judicial Commissioner in April 1992 and rose to become High Court judge three years later.
She became the country's first female Judge of Appeal in August 2016.
In March last year, she was sworn in as an appellate judge of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts for a three-year term.
Justice Prakash's areas of focus include finance, banking, complex commercial cases, arbitration, company, trusts, shipping and insurance laws.
Justice Chan will begin his new tenure on Jan 4 next year. He was appointed Judicial Commissioner in October 1997, and left the post in June 2001 to become solicitor-general.
He returned to the High Court Bench as a judge in July 2007.
As a judge, his areas of focus are in building and construction, shipbuilding, complex and technical cases, intellectual property and criminal matters.
Justice Chan has also been the president of the Industrial Arbitration Court since October 2007. He is also a member of the Sentencing Council, the Costs Panel and the Council of Law Reporting.
Justice Lee, whose new tenure will take effect from Jan 30 next year, was appointed Judicial Commissioner in October 1997. He left the post in October 2002 to become second solicitor-general before returning to the Bench in April 2006.
As a judge, his areas of focus include construction and shipbuilding, intellectual property, employment and criminal matters.
Justice Lee also chaired the One Judiciary Steering Committee, which oversees and drives the implementation of the Courts of the Future IT Roadmap initiatives.
Justice Choo was appointed Judicial Commissioner in April 1995 and was elevated to a High Court judge in January 2003.
His areas of focus are in revenue law, employment issues, tort claims and criminal matters.
Justice Choo has been the president of the Military Court of Appeal since November 2004 and a member of the Singapore Academy of Law's publication committee since 2006.
His new tenure will begin on Feb 21 next year.
Justice Ang became Judicial Commissioner in February 2002 and rose to become a High Court judge the following year.
Her areas of focus are in shipping and arbitration matters, finance, securities, banking and complex commercial cases.
She has been the judge in charge of the High Court since November last year.
Justice Ang is also the chairman and director of the Singapore Mediation Centre and co-chairs the Medical Litigation Review Committee.
Her new tenure will begin on April 24 next year.
With these re-appointments, the Supreme Court will have a total of 20 judges (including the Chief Justice and four judges of appeal), six judicial commissioners, four senior judges and 16 international judges.
