Bala Reddy (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: பாலா ரெட்டி) is a Singaporean senior lawyer. He is presently the senior principal district judge and director of the Community Justice and Tribunals division in the

State Courts of Singapore The State Courts of Singapore (formerly the Subordinate Courts) is one of the three categories of courts in Singapore, the other categories being the Supreme Court and Family Justice Courts. The State Courts comprise the District and Magistrate ...

. Reddy is an authority in international criminal justice systems and served as a legal expert for the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

as well as the

United Nations Convention against Corruption The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is the only legally binding international anti-corruption multilateral treaty. Negotiated by UN member states, member states of the United Nations (UN) it was adopted by the UN General Ass ...

. Prior to his judicial appointment to the State Courts in 2014, Reddy was the Chief Prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore during Justice

Steven Chong Steven Chong Horng Siong (born 22 September 1957) is a Singaporean jurist who has been serving as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Singapore since 2017. He had previously served as the seventh attorney-general of Singapore between 2012 and ...

's tenure as Attorney-General.

Early life and education

Bala Reddy was born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 18 September 1955 to parents who had migrated from

Madurai, India Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is governed by the Madurai Municipal Corpo ...

. He graduated from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

(

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

) Faculty of Law where he was conferred the

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degrees. He subsequently also qualified as a barrister in Singapore, Brunei, England and Wales. In 1991, he was awarded a Singapore Legal Service Commission scholarship to pursue an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

at Trinity Hall,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he was supervised by the distinguished criminologist, Nigel Walker. In 1999, Reddy was awarded a Legal Service sponsorship to join the Program for Management Development at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Legal practice and judicial career

Reddy began his career in private legal practice specializing as an arbitrator in

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

Banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

Insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

law. In 1985, he joined the

Singapore Legal Service The Singapore Legal Service is the collective body of lawyers who work in the courts, the Attorney-General's Chambers, and the legal departments of various government ministries and statutory boards in Singapore. Lawyers who are a part of the le ...

, an autonomous wing of the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

. He was appointed a Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel in the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) and represented Singapore at several international negotiations including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and the

to strengthen the legal capacity of Vietnam. After 20 years of service in the AGC, Reddy was appointed as a judge in the

in 2005. In 2015, Reddy joined the faculty of the SMU School of Law where he leads the seminar course "Evidence, Litigation & Criminal Process".

Community court

Reddy is a proponent of favoring comprehensive community-level justice solutions (as opposed to traditional punitive custodial sentences) to rehabilitate and reintegrate minor offenders from vulnerable groups back into the community. As a judicial officer in the State Courts, he spearheaded the introduction of the community court model and in 2006, Reddy presided over the inaugural Community Court in Singapore. The first problem-solving court in Asia; the community court "adopts a non-traditional, multi-disciplinary team approach and explores sentencing alternatives" such as counseling, rehabilitation and community service to discourage recidivism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Bala 1955 births Living people 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Singaporean people of Indian descent 21st-century Singaporean judges National University of Singapore alumni Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam