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 The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

, and subsequently, University of Singapore. 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. The current dean of NUS Law is Andrew Simester. Internationally, NUS Law has been ranked twelfth by the

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by Subject in 2024 and eleventh by the

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by Subject in 2024.

History

After its establishment in 1956 as the Department of Law of the

, 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 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 ...

which was formed in 1980 by a merger between the University of Singapore and

Nanyang University Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...

Undergraduate programmes

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. 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. 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. Applicants are required to sit for a selection test and attend a formal interview to assess their suitability for the study of law.

Graduate programmes

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.

Publications

NUS Law publishes the ''Singapore Journal of Legal Studies'', one of the oldest law journals in the Commonwealth. It also produces the '' Asian Journal of International Law'' (which is published by

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and succeeds the ''Singapore Year Book of International Law''), and the ''Asian Journal of Comparative Law'' (also published by Cambridge University Press). Additionally, the ''Singapore Law Review'', which is Asia's oldest student-run legal publication, is managed exclusively by the students of NUS Law.

Centres

NUS Law hosts the following centres: In addition, NUS Law also hosts the Secretariat of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL).

Deans

The deans of NUS Law from 1956 to present are listed below:

Notable alumni

NUS Law has produced a number of notable alumni, including Senior Counsel,

Attorneys-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, Members of the Singapore Parliament, Ministers of the

Cabinet of Singapore The Cabinet of Singapore forms the executive branch of the Government of Singapore together with the President. It is led by the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament (MP) appointed by t ...

and Judges of the Supreme Court of Singapore:

Academia

* Tan Cheng Han, SC – former Dean of NUS Faculty of Law * Thio Su-Mien – former Dean of NUS Faculty of Law * Leslie Chew, SC – founding Dean of SUSS School of Law

Arts

* Eleanor Wong – playwright * Ong Keng Sen – Director of theatre group, TheatreWorks * Adrian Tan – Author of Teenage Textbook series and 27th President of the Law Society of Singapore

Business

* Tan Min-Liang – Co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Razer Inc * Priscilla Shunmugam – Founder of Ong Shunmugam * Wong Peck Lin – Co-founder of Udders * Lyn Lee – Founder of Awfully Chocolate and Sinpopo

Judicial

* Sundaresh Menon, SC – Chief Justice and former Attorney-General * Chan Sek Keong, SC – former Attorney-General, and Chief Justice * Steven Chong, SC – Judge of Appeal, former Attorney-General, and former Managing Partner of Rajah & Tann * Tay Yong Kwang – Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore * Andrew Ang – former Supreme Court Judge * Kan Ting Chiu – former Supreme Court Judge * Lai Siu Chiu – former Supreme Court Judge * Foo Chee Hock, SC – former Supreme Court Judicial Commissioner, and Founding Dean of the Singapore Judicial College * Hri Kumar, SC – Supreme Court Judge, former Deputy Attorney-General and former Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC * Andrew Phang, SC – former Judge of Appeal * Woo Bih Li, SC – Supreme Court Judge * Judith Prakash – Senior Judge and former Judge of Appeal * V. K. Rajah, SC – former Judge of Appeal, and Attorney-General, and former Managing Partner of Rajah & Tann * Tan Lee Meng – Supreme Court Judge and former Dean of NUS Faculty of Law * Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim – former Chief Justice of Malaysia * Debbie Ong – Supreme Court Judge and Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts * Kannan Ramesh, SC- Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Singapore and former Managing Partner of Tan Kok Quan Partnership.

Public service

* Tommy Koh – Ambassador-at-Large for Singapore and former Dean of NUS Faculty of Law * Ong Keng Yong – Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and former Secretary-General of

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

Daren Tang Daren Tang Heng Shim ( zh, 邓鸿森; born 1972) is the fifth and current Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is also Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plan ...

– Director General of the

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...

* Walter Woon, SC – former Attorney-General and diplomat

Politics

* K. Shanmugam, SC – Minister for Law, and Home Affairs * Davinder Singh, SC – former CEO of Drew & Napier and former Member of Parliament * Desmond Lee – Minister for National Development * Edwin Tong, SC – Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law * Indranee Rajah, SC – Minister in the Prime Minister's Office * S. Jayakumar – former Deputy Prime Minister, and Dean of NUS Faculty of Law * Halimah Yacob – 8th

President of Singapore The president of the Republic of Singapore, is the head of state of Singapore. The president represents the country in official diplomatic functions and possesses certain executive powers over the government of Singapore, including the contro ...

* Ho Peng Kee – former Senior Minister of State for Law, and Home Affairs * Sin Boon Ann – former Member of Parliament for

Tampines GRC The Tampines Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC encompasses Tampines and is managed by the Tampines Town Council, with five divisions: Tampine ...

Sylvia Lim Sylvia Lim Swee Lian (; born 28 March 1965) is a Singaporean politician, lawyer, former police officer and former Temasek Polytechnic law lecturer. She has been the chairperson of the Workers' Party (Singapore), Workers' Party (WP) since 2003 a ...

– Chair of the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

* Karpal Singh – Former Member of the Malaysian Parliament * Murali Pillai, SC – Minister of State for Law and for Transport

References

External links

NUS Law website
{{Authority control 1956 establishments in Singapore Law schools in Singapore National University of Singapore