Justice Christopher Tan to succeed Justice Vincent Hoong as Presiding Judge of State Courts

SINGAPORE - Justice Christopher Tan Pheng Wee has been appointed Presiding Judge of the State Courts by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and will take over from Justice Vincent Hoong Seng Lei on Jan 1, 2026.

Justice Tan will head the State Courts and have overall responsibility for its management and leadership, said the Singapore Courts in a statement on Oct 1.

Justice Hoong’s appointment as Presiding Judge of the State Courts, which he has held since April 1, 2020, and as Judge of the High Court will end on Dec 31.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said: “I am deeply grateful to Justice Hoong who has led the State Courts with great distinction. He successfully led the State Courts through the pandemic, and ensured the operational stability of the Courts, thus preventing the build-up of a substantial backlog, and then led the effort to rapidly clear what had accumulated.”

He added that Justice Hoong has also been an “enthusiastic champion of technological innovation”, having done “an excellent job in working to ensure accessible justice for our citizens”.

“He has my deepest appreciation for his distinguished service to the judiciary and to the wider public service,” said Chief Justice Menon, who also welcomed Justice Tan as the new Presiding Judge of the State Courts.

“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 (Justice Tan’s) leadership.”

During his five-year term as Presiding Judge of the State Courts, Justice Hoong steered the organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic and introduced a range of measures to enhance the resilience of State Courts operations, while instituting fundamental redesigns to the mode in which hearings there were conducted, said the Singapore Courts.

He also put in place a revamped five-year strategic map to ensure the State Courts remain committed to providing accessible justice through quality judgments, appropriate dispute resolution and innovative court services.

“Justice Hoong advocated enhancing access to justice and advancing the administration and delivery of justice,” said the Singapore Courts in the statement.

“He led the effort to establish the International Judicial Dispute Resolution Network comprising judiciaries from across the common law and civil law traditions to promote the adoption of the (resolution) process around the world, and oversaw the State Courts’ chairmanship of the International Consortium for Court Excellence, which was formed to develop an international framework for court excellence.

The statement added: “Justice Hoong also placed emphasis on the professional development of judicial officers and court administrators to ensure they are continually equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to better serve court users.”

Prior to his appointment as Judicial Commissioner in 2023, Justice Tan concurrently held the position of Registrar of the State Courts (from May 2020) and Deputy Presiding Judge of the State Courts (from June 2022).

He was appointed Judge of the High Court on Aug 1, with his areas of focus in the role being building and construction, shipbuilding, finance, securities, banking, complex commercial cases, company, insolvency, trusts, medical negligence tort claims, defamation, professional negligence, statutory torts and criminal trials.