Asia’s Global Law School

History of the Faculty

The Faculty of Law is part of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the oldest tertiary institution in Singapore. The NUS traces its rich history to the founding of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905. The Medical School was renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1912. In 1949, it merged with Raffles College (itself set up in 1929) to form the University of Malaya.

Dr LA Sheridan
Dean, 1956-1962

The roots of the Faculty of Law lie in the establishment of the Department of Law in the then University of Malaya in 1956. The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the University in 1957. In 1959, the Department attained Faculty status with Professor Lionel Astor (“Lee”) Sheridan serving as the founding Dean. The pioneer class of law students graduated in 1961, and counts among its most illustrious members Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-Large and former Dean), Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, former Dean Thio Su-Mien and Professor Koh Kheng Lian.

In the early 1960s, the governments of Singapore and Malaya announced their desire for the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur divisions of the University of Malaya to become autonomous national universities in their respective territories. Thus, on 1st January 1962, the University of Singapore was born. Singapore was admitted to the Federation of Malaysia on 16th September 1963. The union lasted until 9th August 1965, when Singapore became an independent republic. Throughout this period and thereafter, the Faculty of Law continued to flourish as part of the University of Singapore. In 1980, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University (Nantah) were merged to form the National University of Singapore (NUS). With that, the Faculty of Law became part of the modern NUS at its present Kent Ridge home.

In 2005, the government announced that the Bukit Timah campus would be returned to NUS. Subsequently, it was decided that the Faculty of Law will move out of Kent Ridge to Bukit Timah, along with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and several research institutes. On 17 July 2006, the Faculty made its historic move back to the hallowed grounds of Bukit Timah.

Milestone of the Faculty

	July 1956 Dr Lionel Astor Sheridan takes up his duties as the first Professor of Law and Head of the Law Department at the University of Malaya. September 1957 The first law students are admitted to the Department of Law. July 1959 The University of Malaya Law Review is published (the journal was later renamed the Malaya Law Review and subsequently, the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, which continues to this day).
Dr La Sheridan, Dean 1956 - 1962	November 1959 The Department of Law attains Faculty status and Professor Sheridan is elected as its first Dean. 1960 The Government of the Federation officially recognises the University of Malaya law degree as an initial qualification to enter the legal profession. The Asia Foundation generously endows the Constitutional Law Professorship. Professor Harry E Groves, former Dean of the Southern Texas University Law School, becomes the first Constitutional Law Professor.
	1961 Professor Leslie C Green is appointed to the newly-created Chair of International Law, and Commercial Law is introduced as a principal subject. The pioneer batch of 22 law students graduates on 10th July; 8 of them subsequently join the Faculty as assistant lecturers or part-time teachers.
	1962 The University of Singapore is established following the reconstitution of the University of Malaya.
Dr BL Chua Dean, 1962-63	Lee Sheridan leaves to take up the Chair of Comparative Law at Queen’s University in Belfast. Chua Boon Lan (B L Chua) succeeds Sheridan as Dean of the Faculty.
Prof Harry E Groves Dean, 1963-64	1963 The University confers an honorary LLD on founding Dean Lee Sheridan. Harry E Groves succeeds BL Chua as Dean. Groves secures a grant of US$300,000 from the Ford Foundation to purchase books for the Law Library, to institutionalise scholarships and to fund research projects and staff recruitment.
Prof Leslie C Green Dean, 1964-65	On 16th September, Singapore joins the Federation of Malaysia. In November, Leslie C Green succeeds Harry Groves as Dean.
Prof JL Montrose Dean, 1965-66	1965 On 9th August, Singapore becomes an independent republic. In September, Leslie Green leaves the Faculty and is succeeded by James Louis Montrose.
Prof GW Bartholomew Dean, 1966-68	1966 James Montrose completes his term as Dean and Ford Foundation Visiting Professor and is succeeded by Geoffrey W Bartholomew.
	1967 The Ford Foundation grants US$450,000 to develop the Faculty by providing for visiting professors and teaching fellows, advanced training and teaching experience for local staff, and consultant services for the Law Library and its expansion.
Dr Thio Su Mien ’61 Dean, 1968-1971	1968 Dr Thio Su Mien ‘61, the Faculty’s first alumnus to join its teaching staff in 1962, is appointed Vice-Dean. At the close of Geoffrey Bartholomew’s term as Dean at the end of the year, Thio is elected Dean, making her the first woman, the first local graduate and the youngest person ever to be Dean of the Faculty.
	1969 The student journal, Me Judice, was transformed into The Singapore Law Review (SLR). The SLR continues to this day as a student-run publication. 1970 The Faculty inaugurates a new public lecture series, the Braddell Memorial Lecture. The Lecture was named after the late Dato’ Sir Roland Braddell, the scion of Singapore’s most illustrious legal family.
Prof Tommy Koh ’61 Dean, 1971-1974	1971 Thio Su Mien leaves for private practice and is succeeded as Dean by her classmate, Tommy Koh ‘61. Koh holds the distinction of being the first graduate to have attained First Class Honours from the Faculty. At the time of his appointment, Koh had just returned from his stint as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
	1973 The Faculty starts sending a team of students each year to the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition in the United States, which is held annually in Washington DC. The Jessup Moot is now regarded as the most prestigious international mooting competition in the world. To date, the NUS Faculty of Law holds the record as the law school with the most number of victories at the moot – four in total.
Prof S Jayakumar ’63 Dean, 1974-1980	1974 S Jayakumar ‘63 succeeds Tommy Koh as Dean
Prof Tan Sook Yee Dean, 1980-1987	1980 S Jayakumar leaves the Faculty to enter politics. He is currently Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law. Jayakumar is succeeded by Mrs Tan Sook Yee as Dean.
	With the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University, the Faculty becomes part of the modern National University of Singapore.
	1982 Represented by VK Rajah ’82, Davinder Singh ’82, Jimmy Yim ’82 and Steven Chong ’82, the Faculty wins the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition for the first time.
	1985 The Faculty wins the Jessup Competition for the second time, represented by Anjali Iyer ’85, Lim Kien Thye ’85, Mohan Pillay ’85, Prithipal Singh ’85 and Eleanor Wong ’85.
Justice Tan Lee Meng ’72 Dean, 1987-1992	1987 Tan Lee Meng ’72 succeeds Tan Sook Yee as Dean. As Dean, Tan recruited many young faculty who later became the core of the law school.
	1991 The Malaya Law Review is renamed the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.
Assoc Prof Chin Tet Yung Dean, 1992-2001	1992 Tan Lee Meng is succeeded by Chin Tet Yung as Dean. Tan is appointed the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and is today a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
	1993 The David Marshall Professorship is established in honour of David Marshall, pre-eminent criminal lawyer and also Singapore’s first Chief Minister and subsequent Ambassador to France. Professor Francis Reynolds of Oxford becomes the first David Marshall Professor. 1994 The Faculty, represented by Ang Cheng Hock ’94, Jayanthi Sadanandan ’94, Tan Ken Hwee ’94, Michael Ewing-Chow ’94 and Christopher Daniel ’94, wins the Jessup Competition for the third time.The Faculty begins to develop student exchange programmes with leading law schools in Canada, Australia, England and the United States.
	1996 The Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law is established.
	The Faculty receives a $2 million donation from retired lawyer and philanthropist, C J Koh, to set up the C J Koh Professorship in Law. The late Mr Koh’s additional bequests financed the renovation of the Law Library, now renamed the C J Koh Law Library.
	1997 The Faculty launches its second academic journal, the Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law. 1998 The Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) is established.
Prof Tan Cheng Han S.C. Dean, 2001-present	2001 Chin Tet Yung is succeeded by Tan Cheng Han ’87 as Dean.
	The Faculty becomes the first law school in the world to win the prestigious Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition four times. The Faculty was represented by Sangeeta Subbrahmanyam ’01, Chan Ho Ming ’01, Kabir Singh ’02, Davinia Aziz ’02 and Jason Chan ’02.
	2002 The Faculty receives a gift of $2 million from Chief Justice Yong Pung How LLD ’01 and Mrs Yong Wei Woo to establish the Yong Shook Lin Professorship in Intellectual Property Law. The first issue of LawLink – the Faculty’s alumni magazine – is produced. The Faculty launches a comprehensive Legal Writing Programme – a first in Asia - to systematically equip law students with analytical, research, writing and communication skills to help them excel in the competitive international market for legal services. In its debut effort, the Faculty becomes the first Asian law school to win the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna.
	2003 The Faculty launches three specialist Masters (LLM) programmes in corporate and financial services law; international and comparative law; and intellectual property and technology law The Faculty receives a gift of $4 million from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to endow a Professorship in Maritime Law. The Faculty establishes the Asian Law Institute (ASLI) with nine other leading law schools in Asia. The ASLI Secretariat is housed at the Faculty. The Faculty launches a specialist Masters (LLM) programme in Chinese Law with its ASLI partners, Peking University and the East China University of Politics and Law. 2004 Beginning with Volume 8, the Singapore Year Book of International Law succeeds the Singapore Journal of International & Comparative Law, thereby completing a process which began with the first scholarly documentation of Singapore's international law practice in 1977. The Faculty partners one of China 's top law schools, the East China University of Politics and Law (ECUPL), to offer a specialist Masters of Law (LL.M.) degree in International Business Law in Shanghai from July 2005. NUS Faculty of Law wins the 2004 Asia Cup International Law Moot Court Competition A Faculty team, sponsored by the Singapore Red Cross, emerges as Champions in the 2nd International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot Competition held in Hong Kong in March. 2005 The Faculty jointly launches two double honours degree programmes with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and NUS Business School consecutively: Economics and Law, Business Administration and Law. The Faculty wins the Asia Pacific Regional of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition. The government announces that the Bukit Timah Campus will be returned to NUS. It was also decided that the Faculty of Law will move from Kent Ridge to Bukit Timah. 2006 The Faculty participates in the Oxford International Intellectual Property Mooting Competition for the first time and beats leading universities to win it. The Faculty makes its historic move home to Bukit Timah, where it all began. 2007 The Faculty celebrates 50 years of legal education in Singapore. The beginnings of the Faculty of Law are rooted in 1957, when it was first established as the Department of Law in the University of Malaya. Within a short span of 50 years, the Faculty, through its innovative curriculum, international collaborations, achievements in international moot competitions and list of illustrious graduate students, has achieved recognition as Asia’s leading Global Law School. A series of events was held to commemorate this milestone, culminating in the 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner which took place on 1 September 2007. The Faculty of Law and the New York University’s (NYU) School of Law launches a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) concurrent degree programme. NUS law undergraduates will be able to obtain both a LL.B. degree from NUS and a LL.M. degree from NYU in four years. The Faculty of Law and the New York University’s (NYU) School of Law launches a dual Master of Laws programme - NYU@NUS - where students are based in Singapore and earn an LL.M. from NUS (with or without specialization), and an LL.M. in Global Business Law from NYU in one year. The Faculty of Law and the New York University’s (NYU) School of Law launches a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Juris Doctor (J.D.) dual degree programme. NUS law undergraduates will be able to obtain both a LL.B. degree from NUS and J.D. degree from NYU in five years. 2008 NUS Faculty of Law becomes founding member of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS), a joint venture with premier law schools from countries around the world which opened in the heart of London's legal quarter. Based in Georgetown University Law Center, the program will bring together faculty and students from several of the world's top law schools to study transnational legal issues in a multicultural and transnational setting. NUS Faculty of Law hosts symposium on Emergency Powers in Asia . The overarching aim of the symposium was to explore theoretical and practice problems arising from the invocation of emergency powers by states in Asia, with a view to publishing a collection of essays on the subject. The papers presented at the symposium were edited and published in 2009. The Faculty together with Singapore Academy of Law and Melbourne Law School organises the Fourth Biennial Conference on the Law of Obligations at the Bukit Timah campus from 23 to 25 July 2008 (“Obligations IV”). The Obligations series is one of the leading conferences in the Commonwealth on private law and was held for the first time outside Australia. The Law of Obligations comprises the law of contract, tort, unjust enrichment and equity. 2009 NUS Team wins The Copenhagen Competition: Protocol on Climate Change. The NUS team's submission was presented to the Danish Prime Minister and other key players involved in the negotiations for the Copenhagen Protocol. The Faculty hosts the inaugural Asian Law Dean’s Forum on Legal Education from 6 to 8 July 2009. Initiated by NUS Law School, with funding from Temasek Foundation as well as support from the Asian Law Institute (ASLI), the Forum brings together over 45 deans and leaders of law schools in the region for an intensive high-level meeting to discuss common issues regarding legal education. The Faculty receives a gift of S$1 million from an anonymous donor to establish the Amaladass Fellowship in memory of the late legal practitioner Mr M. Amaladass. The Fellowship will support the appointment of an Associate Professor at the Law School specialising in Criminal Law, which was which was one of Mr Amaladass' main areas of practice. Associate Professor Chan Wing Cheong is appointed the inaugural Amaladass Fellow. 2010 The Faculty launches Singapore’s first Clinical Legal Education programme to promote hands-on learning and inculcate pro bono spirit in law students. The programme is a collaborative effort by the Faculty of Law and the Legal Aid Bureau, based on the shared view that Clinical Legal Education can bring manifold benefits to law students and to the community at large. The Faculty launches the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professorship in honour of former Dean Professor Geoffrey Bartholomew. A total of over S$2million was raised for the Professorship’s endowed fund and Professor Tan Yock Lin is appointed the inaugural Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor in August 2010. Former Attorney-General Professor Walter Woon was appointed as the David Marshall Professor for a period of 3 years. Given his distinguished record as an academic and the Public Prosecutor while he was Attorney-General, NUS was of the view that he would be an appropriate person to hold the chair and add further to its distinction. NUS Faculty of Law becomes a member of Association of Transnational Law Schools (ATLAS) at the invitation of ATLAS. Other member institutions are: Université de Montréal, Universidad de Deusto, New York University School of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School York University, University of Melbourne, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Cape Town and Bar-Ilan University. The Faculty receives S$1 million gift from lawyer Ms Ella Cheong. The gift will be used to establish scholarship awards in Intellectual Property law, and to provide financial assistance to law students through bursary awards and student loans. 2011 NUS Faculty of Law partners Boston University (BU) to allow selected NUS law students to pursue a master’s in law at BU during their fourth year of undergraduate studies. The Faculty partners the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and World Bank to offer up to three fellowships from 2011. Students selected for the fellowship will work at the ICJ in the The Hague, Netherlands, and the World Bank, United States. Faculty of Law’s pioneer class celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the establishment of the Lionel A. Sheridan Professorship in honour of the Faculty’s founding dean. The Class of 1961 held its Golden Jubilee reunion at the Bukit Timah Campus on Saturday 22 January 2011 and kicked-off the fundraising campaign for the Professorship.