Two international judges appointed to Singapore International Commercial Court from 2024

Two international judges have been appointed to the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) for a three-year term, starting from Jan 5, 2024.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Dec 15 that Justice James Michael Peck from the United States, and Justice James Leslie Bain Allsop from Australia have been appointed by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Justice Peck graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and from the New York University School of Law in 1971. He has more than 40 years of experience in the private sector. His areas of focus include bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, business restructuring, financial contracts and derivatives, mediation, and dispute resolution.

Between 2006 and 2014, he was a judge in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, where he presided over or mediated cases that involved big corporations such as former investment banking company Lehman Brothers, American Airlines and General Motors.

Justice Peck is also a founding member of the advisory committee of the Singapore Academy of Law’s Asian Business Law Institute, and is a qualified mediation panel member of the Singapore Mediation Centre and Singapore International Mediation Centre.

Justice Allsop graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Bachelor of Laws in 1980, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in Western Australia in 1998.

In 2013, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to the judiciary and law, reforms he introduced to promote equity and access, and his contributions to the administration of maritime law and legal education.

He was also appointed the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia in the same year, until April 2023, when he retired.

His areas of legal expertise include commercial law, maritime and transport law, insurance law, taxation, and private and public international law.

The SICC was established in 2015, and is an international court based in Singapore as an option for the resolution of international commercial disputes, such as mediation and arbitration.

Separately, three Senior Judges of the Supreme Court will complete their terms on Jan 4, 2024. They are Justice Quentin Loh, Justice Andrew Ang and Justice Lai Siu Chiu.

The PMO said: “The Supreme Court is grateful for their invaluable contributions to the Judiciary and wishes them the very best in their future undertakings.”

 The Supreme Court will have a total of 27 judges (including the Chief Justice, three Justices of the Court of Appeal and four Judges of the Appellate Division), three Judicial Commissioners, four Senior Judges and 20 International Judges from Jan 5, 2024.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Man left $8m house to charity and not relatives Public Defender’s Office marks one year of access to justice for those who need it most