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Established | 1956 |
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Parent institution | National University of Singapore |
Dean | Andrew Simester |
Address | 469G Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 259776 , Singapore , Singapore 1°19′07″N103°48′54″E / 1.3187°N 103.8150°E |
Website | www |
The National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (NUS Law) is Singapore's oldest law school. NUS Law was initially established in 1956 as the Department of Law in the University of Malaya. After its establishment, NUS Law was Singapore's only law school for half a century, until the subsequent establishment of the SMU School of Law in 2007 and the SUSS School of Law in 2017. NUS Law is currently located at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. [1] The current dean of NUS Law is Andrew Simester. [2] Internationally, NUS Law has been ranked twelfth by the QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2023 and eleventh by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject in 2024. [3] [4]
After its establishment in 1956 as the Department of Law of the University of Malaya, NUS Law attained faculty status in 1959, and Lionel Astor Sheridan was appointed as its founding dean. Its pioneer batch of students graduated in 1961, featuring future notable figures such as Chan Sek Keong and Tommy Koh. After the division of the University of Malaya in 1962, the faculty continued as part of the new University of Singapore. Subsequently, the faculty became part of the National University of Singapore which was formed in 1980 by a merger between the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. [5]
The LL.B. programme at NUS Law is a four-year programme. Students take compulsory modules in their first two years and elective modules in their third and fourth years. In terms of exposure to non-law subjects, students may choose to take non-law elective modules offered by other NUS faculties, read for minors outside of law, and take on concurrent or double degree programmes. [6]
Undergraduate students may go on exchange to study in a law school in a foreign jurisdiction. Students on the exchange programme pay only tuition fees at the NUS Law rate. Selected students can also combine completion of their LL.B. at NUS Law with an LL.M. from a partner institution in four years. [7]
The indicative grade profile of the tenth percentile of GCE A-Level applicants offered places in its LL.B. programme in 2020 was AAA/A. [8] Applicants are required to sit for a selection test and attend a formal interview to assess their suitability for the study of law. [9]
For graduate students, NUS Law offers a J.D. programme, several coursework LL.M. programmes, and a research Ph.D. programme. Admissions for graduate programmes generally require a good bachelor's degree in law. [10]
NUS Law publishes the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, one of the oldest law journals in the Commonwealth. [11] It also produces the Asian Journal of International Law (which is published by Cambridge University Press and succeeds the Singapore Year Book of International Law), [12] and the Asian Journal of Comparative Law (also published by Cambridge University Press). [13]
Additionally, the Singapore Law Review, [14] which is Asia's oldest student-run legal publication, is managed exclusively by the students of NUS Law.
NUS Law hosts the following centres: [15]
Centre | Established |
---|---|
Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) | 1996 |
Asian Law Institute (ASLI) | 2003 |
Centre for International Law (CIL) | 2009 |
Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) | 2012 |
EW Barker Centre for Law & Business (EWBCLB) [16] | 2013 |
Centre for Banking & Finance Law (CBFL) | 2014 |
Centre for Legal Theory (CLT) | 2015 |
Centre for Maritime Law (CML) | 2015 |
Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Education (CPBCLE) | 2017 |
Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & the Law (TRAIL) [17] | 2019 |
In addition, NUS Law also hosts the Secretariat of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL). [18]
The deans of NUS Law from 1956 to present are listed below: [5]
S/N | Name | Term of office |
---|---|---|
1. | Lionel Astor Sheridan | 1956–1962 |
2. | Chua Boon Lan | 1962–1963 |
3. | Harry E. Groves | 1963–1964 |
4. | Leslie C. Green | 1964–1965 |
5. | James Louis Montrose | 1965–1966 |
6. | Geoffrey W. Bartholomew | 1966–1968 |
7. | Thio Su Mien | 1968–1971 |
8. | Tommy Koh | 1971–1974 |
9. | S. Jayakumar | 1974–1980 |
10. | Tan Sook Yee | 1980–1987 |
11. | Tan Lee Meng | 1987–1992 |
12. | Chin Tet Yung | 1992–2001 |
13. | Tan Cheng Han | 2001–2011 |
14. | Simon Chesterman | 2012–2022 |
15. | Andrew Simester | 2023– |
NUS Law has produced a number of notable alumni, including Senior Counsel, Attorneys-General, Members of the Singapore Parliament, Ministers of the Cabinet of Singapore and Judges of the Supreme Court of Singapore:
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public collegiate and research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in Singapore. It offers degree programmes in disciplines at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including in the sciences, medicine and dentistry, design and environment, law, arts and social sciences, engineering, business, computing, and music.
Shunmugam Jayakumar, often known as S. Jayakumar, is a Singaporean former politician, diplomat, lawyer and author who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2004 and 2009. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedok SMC between 1980 and 1988, the Bedok division of Bedok GRC between 1988 and 1997, and later East Coast GRC between 1997 and 2011.
Walter Woon Cheong Ming is a Singaporean lawyer who served as the fifth attorney-general of Singapore between 2008 and 2010. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, Lee Kong Chian Visiting professor at the Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law, and the dean of the RHT Legal Training Institute.
Yong Pung How was a Malayan-born Singaporean judge who served as the second chief justice of Singapore between 1990 and 2006.
Chan Sek Keong is a Malayan-born Singaporean judge who served as chief justice of Singapore between 2006 and 2012.
Tan Lee Meng is a professor in the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. He was first appointed as a Judicial Commissioner on 2 February 1997, and then appointed Judge in August 1997, serving until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 on 7 July 2013. He also completed two consecutive three-year terms of service as a Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
Vijaya Kumar Rajah, better known as V. K. Rajah, is a Singaporean lawyer who served as the eighth attorney-general of Singapore between 2014 and 2017. Prior to his appointment as attorney-general, he served as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Singapore between 2007 and 2014, and a judge of the High Court of Singapore between 2004 and 2007.
Drew & Napier LLC is one of Singapore’s leading law firms. Founded in 1889, the firm has more than 500 employees. It is regarded as one of the “Big Four” law firms in Singapore.
Tan Cheng Han is a Singaporean lawyer and legal academic. Until 2012, he was the dean of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, where he taught contract law and company Law and directed the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business. From 2019 to 2022, he was the dean of the City University of Hong Kong School of Law and the chair professor of commercial law. He was also a consultant at TSMP Law Corporation. In August 2012, he was appointed the inaugural chairman of Singapore's new Media Literacy Council.
The judicial officers of the Republic of Singapore work in the Supreme Court and the State Courts to hear and determine disputes between litigants in civil cases and, in criminal matters, to determine the liability of accused persons and their sentences if they are convicted.
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Sundaresh Menon is a Singaporean lawyer and judge who has been serving as Chief Justice of Singapore since 2012.
Kasinather SaunthararajahPBMSC, known professionally as K. S. Rajah, was a Senior Counsel and Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Born in Penang, he came to Singapore in 1950 and worked as a teacher before embarking on part-time law studies at what was later known as the University of Singapore, graduating in 1963 with a Bachelor of Laws with honours. He then spent the next 22 years with the Singapore Legal Service, eventually heading the civil and criminal divisions of the Attorney-General's Chambers and also serving as Director of the Singapore Legal Aid Bureau and head of the Official Assignee and Public Trustee's Office. In 1985 he retired from the Legal Service and went into private practice, establishing the firm of B. Rao & K. S. Rajah.
The Yong Pung How School of Law is one of the six schools of the Singapore Management University. It was set up as Singapore's second law school in 2007, 50 years after the NUS Faculty of Law and 10 years before SUSS School of Law. Prior to its establishment as a law school, the school was a department within the School of Business between 2000 and 2007. The school was known as the SMU School of Law until 2021, when it was renamed after former Chief Justice Yong Pung How.
Tan Boon Teik was a Singaporean judge who served as the second attorney-general of Singapore between 1969 and 1992. At the age of 39, Tan was the youngest person to be appointed as attorney-general, and was the longest-serving attorney-general after the Independence of Singapore, after 25 years in office.
Ang Cheng Hock, SC, is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore and the current Deputy Attorney-General of Singapore.
Goh Yihan is a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He was previously a Judicial Commissioner, and, before that, the Dean of the Singapore Management University School of Law.
Arumugam Ponnu Rajah, also known as A. P. Rajah, was a Singaporean judge, diplomat and politician who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 1964 and 1966.
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