SMU Yong Pung How School of Law Annual Report 2020 by smu.law.alumni

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF LAW ANNUAL REPORT 2020

02 DEAN’S MESSAGE

40 ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

03 MISSION STATEMENT

Overview of Academic Programmes

04 OUR PEOPLE

Innovations in Teaching

Advisory Board Distinguished Fellows Faculty Members Promotions and New Appointments Notable External Appointments and Engagements

14 RESEARCH

Teaching Excellence Engagement with the Legal Profession Undergraduate Programmes Postgraduate Programmes

52 PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS

Research Clusters

SMU Law Academy

Research Overview

Pro Bono Centre

Book Publications Research Centres Other Research Highlights Research Impact Outreach Activities by Faculty Research Awards

58 STUDENTS AND ALUMNI Student Clubs Notable Student Events Student Achievements Alumni Achievements

External Relations

36 KWA GEOK CHOO LAW LIBRARY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANNUAL REPORT COMMITTEE Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson Assistant Professor Edward Ti Mr Adrian John Neo Associate Professor Chen Siyuan Assistant Professor Kenny Chng Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho Assistant Professor Benjamin Joshua Ong Mr Benjamin Liow Jun Mun (LLB, Cohort of 2019) Ms Pearlie Peh Zhi Qi (LLB, Cohort of 2019) Ms Janessa Phua Pei Xuan (LLB, Cohort of 2019) Ms Sarah Teo Yu Ping (LLB, Cohort of 2019)

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

DEAN’S MESSAGE

MISSION STATEMENT

Professor Goh Yihan SC Dean, Yong Pung How School of Law

It is my pleasure to present to you the Yong Pung How School of Law’s Annual Report for 2020. This Report highlights the achievements of our faculty members, students and alumni in the past year. As a law school, our mission is to produce meaningful and impactful research, provide relevant legal training to our students and apply our expertise to serve the community. 2020 was a challenging year for the legal profession. Even prior to the pandemic, the legal profession has been grappling with disruptions occasioned by the exponential explosion of technologies that have fundamentally changed the ways we live, work and interact. The use of technology in the legal industry is reshaping the role of human legal professionals, and the pandemic has only accelerated the shift toward digital legal practice. The future of tomorrow’s law graduate will be very different from what it used to be.

SERVICE TO

COMMUNITY

In the midst of this uncertainty, we at the Yong Pung How School of Law see opportunities. We want to play a direct role in shaping the future of law. Last year, we responded swiftly and creatively to the needs presented by the pandemic. The SMU Law Academy organised a webinar series for lawyers to address key commercial and legal issues arising from COVID-19, while our Pro Bono Centre launched an online portal to educate the public on legal issues arising from the virus outbreak. The School also convened a virtual academic conference themed Global Public-Private Law Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic and tapped on the expertise of 26 colleagues to publish an electronic book Law and COVID-19 examining critical legal issues from multiple scholarly perspectives. Our faculty members have continued to publish their research in leading law journals, organise conferences, and contribute to the shaping of legal policies both in Singapore and internationally. Collectively, our School has demonstrated its ability to embrace challenges and newfound opportunities. We also believe in shaping the future of how law is taught. Our role as a law school is to be continuously relevant in legal education for all legal professionals. Our curriculum is designed to lay a firm foundation in legal reasoning and other critical skills that will enable our students to adapt to novel contexts. A newly designed curriculum for incoming students in 2021 will encourage lateral thinking and problem-solving across a range of legal disciplines and provide them with opportunities to explore specific areas of legal practice. In addition, our faculty swiftly adjusted to virtual teaching and blended learning. Notably, instructor and course ratings in Term 1 of 2020 were at their highest in the past 6 years. The achievements of our graduates is the best testament to the effectiveness of our unique approach to legal education. We have, in the last 14 years, produced graduates who are well regarded by the legal sector. More than 20 alumni were appointed as partners in law firms last year, while some have also set up their own private practices and legal-tech start-ups. All our achievements in the previous year would not have been possible without the combined efforts of our faculty members, students, alumni and external collaborators. We are also greatly indebted to many who laid the foundation for the formation of the School more than a decade ago. One of them is the late Dr Yong Pung How, Singapore’s second Chief Justice. As founding Chairman of the School’s Advisory Board, as well as former Pro-Chancellor and Chancellor of the university, Dr Yong generously gave his time to connect the School with the legal profession, took personal interest in the hiring of faculty, and interacted with our students in many events. On 11 April 2021, our School was honoured to be renamed the Yong Pung How School of Law. The renaming not only acknowledges Dr Yong’s generous contributions to our School, but also signifies our aspiration of continuing the legacy of Dr Yong. Just as Dr Yong was an agent of change in every organisation he led, we seek to shape the future of legal education and the legal profession with excellence and innovation. We also seek to nurture lawyers who will embrace this vision and do good for the legal community and society at large. I trust that you will enjoy reading this Annual Report and I wish you the best of health in these times.

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MEANINGFUL AND IMPACTFUL

RESEARCH

INNOVATIVE AND PRACTICE-RELEVANT

LEGAL TRAINING Annual Report 2020 / 03

OUR PEOPLE

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

OUR PEOPLE

ADVISORY BOARD 1 MR V K RAJAH SC Chairman Member Duxton Hill Chambers (Singapore Group Practice)

2 JUSTICE AEDIT ABDULLAH Judge of the High Court 1

Supreme Court of Singapore

3 DR CHENG TAI-HENG Partner and Global Co-Head, International Arbitration Sidley Austin LLP

FACULTY MEMBERS*

BY DESIGNATION

* The figures on this page are accurate as of 31 December 2020.

BY TRACK

4 MR DARYL CHEW Managing Partner Shearman & Sterling LLP, Singapore Office

5 MR ANTONY COOK 3

Associate General Counsel, Corporate, External and Legal Affairs

Microsoft Asia

6 MR LAM CHEE KIN Managing Director and Head, Group Compliance DBS Bank

7 MR CHARLES LIM SING SIONG

13 PROFESSORS

31 TENURE

19 ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

8 PRACTICE

9 ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

2 EDUCATION

1 SENIOR LECTURER

3 LECTURERS

2 LECTURERS

General Counsel and Managing Director, Legal and Compliance 6

GIC Pte Ltd

8 MS SOPHIE MATHUR Partner Global Co-Head of Innovation Linklaters Singapore Pte Ltd

9 MR THAM LIJING

BY HIGHEST QUALIFICATION

Member Duxton Hill Chambers (Singapore Group Practice) 9

10 MR WONG TAUR JIUN Head of Legal Rabobank Singapore

1 LLD 13 PHD/SJD 26 LLM/JSM/MA/BCL

DISTINGUISHED FELLOWS

4 LLB/BA/JD

1 MR V K RAJAH SC Member of Duxton Hill Chambers (Singapore Group Practice)

BY COUNTRY OF HIGHEST QUALIFICATION

2 AUSTRALIA

1 SPAIN

1 BELGIUM

1 THE NETHERLANDS

2 GERMANY

19 UK

2 SINGAPORE

16 USA

Former Attorney-General of Singapore Former Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore

2 JUSTICE CHAO HICK TIN Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore Former Attorney-General of Singapore Former Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore 1

06 / Shaping the Future of Law

Annual Report 2020 / 07

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

OUR PEOPLE

GOH YIHAN SC

PASHA L. HSIEH

Dean Professor of Law

Associate Dean (Faculty Matters & Research)

LLM (Harvard); LLB (NUS)

Associate Professor of Law

DORCAS QUEK ANDERSON Associate Dean (Student, Staff & Alumni Affairs)

PhD in Political Science (Free University of Brussels); JD, LLM (Penn); LLB (National Chengchi University)

Assistant Professor of Law

ZHANG WEI

LOW KEE YANG

NADJA ALEXANDER

Associate Dean (Postgraduate Curriculum, Teaching and International Relations)

Special Advisor to the Dean

Director, Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy

Associate Professor of Law

Associate Professor of Law PhD, LLM (King’s College London); LLB (NUS)

LLM (Harvard); LLB (NUS)

ALVIN SEE WEI LIANG Associate Dean (Undergraduate Curriculum and Teaching)

(till January 2021)

Associate Professor of Law

Assistant Professor of Law

BCL (Oxford); LLB (Leeds)

PhD (UCL); LLM (Michigan); LLM, LLB (National Taiwan University)

LLM (UCL); LLM (Tulane); LLB (NUS)

LLM (Harvard); LLB (SMU)

STEPHEN BULL

MAARTJE DE VISSER

MARK FINDLAY

HENRY GAO

Associate Professor of Law (Education)

Associate Professor of Law (Practice)

D.jur. (University of Tübingen)

Associate Professor of Law PhD (Tilburg); MJur (Oxford); LLM (Maastricht)

DARIUS CHAN

GARY CHAN KOK YEW

CHEN SIYUAN

LOCKNIE HSU

Professor of Law

Director, SMU Law Academy

Professor of Law

Director, Moots

Professor of Law

LLM (Cornell); BA in Jurisprudence (Oxford)

Associate Professor of Law (Practice)

LLM (University of London); LLB (NUS)

Associate Professor of Law

LLM (Harvard); LLB (NUS)

Director, Centre for AI & Data Governance Professorial Research Fellow LLD (Nottingham Trent); Dip in Criminology (MSc) (Edinburgh); LLM (Sydney); LLB, BA (ANU)

CHAN WING CHEONG

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KENNY CHNG Deputy Director, SMU Law Academy

PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy (Berkeley); LLM (Harvard); MA in Civil Law (Waseda); LLB (Fudan)

LLM (NYU); LLB (NUS)

WARREN B. CHIK Deputy Director, Centre for AI & Data Governance

LLM (Harvard); BA, LLB (Victoria University of Wellington)

Professor of Law (Practice)

CHRISTOPHER CHEN CHAO-HUNG

MALAVIKA JAYARAM Assistant Professor of Law (Practice) LLM (Northwestern); LLB (National Law School of India University)

Associate Professor of Law

ADELINE CHONG SWEE LING Associate Professor of Law PhD (Nottingham); LLB (Birmingham)

AURELIO GURREA MARTÍNEZ

JD (Vanderbilt); LLM (UCL); LLB (China Youth Politics Institute)

Assistant Professor of Law

PEARLIE KOH

RATHNA N. KOMAN

Associate Professor of Law

Associate Professor of Law (Practice)

LLM (Melbourne); LLB (NUS)

JSM (Stanford); MSc in Law and Finance (Oxford); PhD (CEU San Pablo University); LLB, BBA (University of Granada)

LLM (Nottingham); LLB (Warwick)

Annual Report 2020 / 09

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

OUR PEOPLE

LAU KWAN HO

LEE PEY WOAN

LIM HOW KHANG

NICHOLAS LIU

Deputy Director, Centre for Commercial Law in Asia (from Jan 2021)

Vice Provost (Faculty Matters)

Director, Centre for Computational Law

Lecturer of Law

Assistant Professor of Law

Professor of Law BCL (Oxford); LLB (King’s College London)

LLM (NYU); LLB (NUS)

Assistant Professor of Law and Computer Science (Practice)

DAVID LLEWELYN

LOO WEE LING

Director, Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (till Mar 2020)

Professor of Law (Practice)

Associate Professor of Law (Education)

BCL (Oxford); LLB (Southampton)

LLM (Sydney); LLB (NUS)

Lee Kong Chian Professor of Law (Practice)

JD (George Mason University); MA in English Literature, BA in English and American Literature (Brown University)

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Associate Professor of Law

SJD, LLM (Harvard); LLB (NUS)

JSM (Stanford); MSc in Comparative Politics (LSE); LLB (NUS)

BENJAMIN JOSHUA ONG

EDWARD TI

Director, Undergraduate Admissions

PhD in Land Economy (Cambridge); MSc in Real Estate, LLB (NUS)

Assistant Professor of Law BCL, BA in Jurisprudence (Oxford)

PhD (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich); LLM, LLB (National Taiwan University)

Senior Lecturer of Law

TAN SEOW HON Associate Professor of Law

SAW CHENG LIM

JERROLD SOH

Lecturer of Law

Associate Professor of Law

BA in Jurisprudence (Oxford)

LLM (Cambridge); LLB (NUS)

Deputy Director, Centre for Computational Law

VINCENT OOI

Assistant Professor of Law

TANG HANG WU

THAM CHEE HO

Director, Centre for Commercial Law in Asia (till Dec 2020)

Professor of Law DPhil, BCL (Oxford); LLB (NUS)

Professor of Law PhD, LLM (Cambridge); LLB (NUS)

LLB (NUS); MIT (Minor Thesis), BCompSci (Monash)

LIU KUNG-CHUNG

ONG EE ING

JD (SMU); BA in English Literature (NUS)

EUGENE TAN KHENG BOON

WAN WAI YEE Professor of Law BCL (Oxford); LLB (NUS)

YEO TIONG MIN SC (HON)

YIP MAN

Yong Pung How Chair Professor of Law

Director (from Jan 2021) / Deputy Director (till Dec 2020), Centre for Commercial Law in Asia

DPhil, BCL (Oxford); LLB (NUS)

Associate Professor of Law BCL (Oxford); LLB (NUS)

Assistant Professor of Law LLM (Harvard); LLB, BSocSci in Economics (NUS)

Annual Report 2020 / 11

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

OUR PEOPLE

PROMOTIONS AND NEW APPOINTMENTS PROMOTIONS 1

NOTABLE EXTERNAL APPOINTMENTS AND ENGAGEMENTS 1

Professor Chan Wing Cheong was appointed as an External Examiner for a Doctoral Thesis Examination in the University of Malaya, Assessor under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures Act 2020), Consultant to the Law Society’s Criminal Law Practice Committee and the Chairman of the Review Board under the Vulnerable Adults Act.

Professor Gary Chan was appointed as Civilian Panel Member of the Singapore Military Court of Appeal.

Professor Locknie Hsu was appointed one of 10 arbitrators in the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement endorsed by 23 World Trade Organization members.

Professor Mark Findlay was appointed Senior Associate Research Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, member of the Singapore Law Society Criminal Procedure Sub-Committee, member of the Global AI Ethics Consortium and member of the Singapore National Robotics Programme.

Zhang Wei was promoted from Assistant Professor of Law to Associate Professor of Law

NEW APPOINTMENTS 1

Lee Pey Woan Vice Provost (Faculty Matters)

Dorcas Quek Anderson Associate Dean (Student, Alumni & Staff Affairs)

Alvin See Associate Dean (Undergraduate Curriculum & Teaching)

4 5

Low Kee Yang Special Advisor to Dean

Chen Siyuan Director, Moots

Benjamin Joshua Ong Director, Undergraduate Admissions

Darius Chan Director, SMU Law Academy; Deputy Director, Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy

Kenny Chng Deputy Director, SMU Law Academy

Yip Man Director, Centre for Commercial Law in Asia

Lau Kwan Ho Deputy Director, Centre for Commercial Law in Asia

Lim How Khang Director, Centre for Computational Law

Jerrold Soh Deputy Director, Centre for Computational Law

Ruby Lee Deputy Director, Pro Bono Centre

14 13

Zhang Wei Associate Dean (Postgraduate Curriculum, Teaching & International Relations)

Professor Nadja Alexander was appointed to the International Advisory Board of the UN Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes.

Professor Tang Hang Wu was re-appointed as a member of the Strata Titles Boards.

Associate Professor Chen Siyuan was elected to the Singapore Athletics Association Management Committee to act as legal advisor.

Associate Professor Eugene K B Tan was appointed as a member of the Singapore delegation for Singapore’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the 38th Session of the UPR Working Group at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Prof Tan is also Singapore’s national researcher for the Global Access to Justice Project which seeks to analyse emerging trends in access to justice by conducting a global survey studying the diverse worldwide access to justice movement in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, North America, Europe and Oceania.

Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez was appointed member of the Academic Steering Committee of INSOL International.

Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson was appointed as Mediator of the Global Mediation Panel of the UN Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes.

Assistant Professor Edward Ti was appointed as a member of the Strata Titles Boards.

11 14

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Annual Report 2020 / 13

RESEARCH

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

RESEARCH CLUSTERS ASIAN AND COMPARATIVE LEGAL SYSTEMS Comparative Law Singapore Legal System Chinese Commercial Law Law and Society Asian Legal Systems

PRIVATE LAW

RESEARCH OVERVIEW PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, REGIONAL AND TRADE LAW Public International Law Transborder Trade & Investment Law EU Law ASEAN Law Asian Intellectual Property Law

PUBLIC INTEREST LAW, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

CORPORATE, FINANCE AND SECURITIES LAW Company Law Securities Regulation Insolvency Law of Credit & Security Banking, Finance and the Law

0VER

120

RESEARCH CLUSTERS

FACULTY PUBLICATIONS IN 2020

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

PUBLIC LAW

RESEARCH CENTRES

RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS

Contract Law Equity & Trusts Unjust Enrichment & Restitution Tort Law

Family Law Criminal Law & Justice Animal Law

Constitutional Law Administrative Law

OUR RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS

PUBLICATIONS IN 2020 INCLUDE

Property Law

LEGAL THEORY, ETHICS AND LEGAL EDUCATION Legal Theory Ethics & Social Responsibility Law & Economics Law & Regulation Legal Education

DISPUTE RESOLUTION Law of Evidence Civil & Criminal Procedure Alternative Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management Arbitration Private International Law

LAW AND TECHNOLOGY

BOOKS

JOURNAL ARTICLES

TRANSNATIONAL COMMERCIAL LAW IN ASIA

Internet Law

E-Commerce Law

CASE NOTES

BOOK CHAPTERS

INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY AND THE LAW Law of Intellectual Property Information Technology Law Data Protection & Privacy Law

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

To know more about research at the Yong Pung How School of Law, see our website.

16 / Shaping the Future of Law

Annual Report 2020 / 17

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

BOOK PUBLICATIONS

RESEARCH CENTRES

APPLIED RESEARCH CENTRE FOR INTELLECTUAL ASSETS AND THE LAW IN ASIA (ARCIALA)

BOOK PUBLICATIONS BY FACULTY IN 2020 INCLUDE:

Led by Professor Liu Kung-Chung (Director), ARCIALA is a leading research centre undertaking industry-relevant studies and exploration into the treatment of intellectual assets in Singapore and Asia generally. Through its multi-faceted and cross-disciplinary approach, ARCIALA engages in thoughtprovoking research projects to promote interest, academic research and cooperation, and to nurture promising young scholars.

Adeline Chong Swee Ling (ed), Asian Principles for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, Asian Business Law Institute Legal Convergence Series (ABLI, 2020)

Aurelio GurreaMartínez, Mark Findlay and Goh Yihan (eds), Law and COVID-19 (Singapore Management University School of Law, 2020)

Chan Wing Cheong, Michael Hor, Neil Morgan, Jeeva Niriella and Stanley Yeo, Criminal Law in Sri Lanka (LexisNexis, 2020)

Eugene Tan Kheng Boon, Kenny Chng Wei Yao and Benjamin Joshua Ong, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 6(3): Constitutional Law) (LexisNexis, 2020)

Jerrold Soh and Josh Lee (eds), The State of Legal Innovation in the Asia-Pacific 2020 (Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association, 2020)

James Mellor, David Llewelyn, Thomas Moody-Stuart, David Keeling and Iona Berkeley, Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names (Sweet & Maxwell, 16th Edition Supplement, 2020)

Sarah R. Cole, Craig A. McEwen, Nancy H. Rogers, James R. Coben and Nadja Alexander, Mediation: Law, Policy & Practice (Thomson Reuters, 2020-2021)

Warren B. Chik and Saw Cheng Lim, Information and Communications Technology Law in Singapore (Academy Publishing, 2020)

Liu Hern Kuan and Vincent Ooi, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 16(2): Revenue and Taxation-Income Tax) (LexisNexis, 2020)

Yeo Tiong Min, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 6(2): Conflict of Laws) (LexisNexis, 2020)

ARCIALA’s research focus includes annotating and contrasting leading intellectual property cases from major Asian jurisdictions; deciphering the intersections between intellectual property, competition law and trade law; and understanding the relationship between innovation, economic development and intellectual property. ARCIALA publishes a series of edited volumes and monographs on Asian intellectual property law.

ARCIALA HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 INCLUDE: Asian IP Works-in-Progress Conference (9-10 January 2020) International Conference on Trade Secret Protection — Asia at a Crossroads (7 December 2020) International Conference on Trade Secret Protection — Asia at a Crossroads ARCIALA co-organised this conference with the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Germany), the Center for Law, Technology and Ethics (College of Law, National Taiwan University) and the Taiwan Intellectual Property Law Association. Some 75 online and offline participants from Asia, Australia, and Europe took part in the conference. This conference will lead to a book co-edited by Professor Liu Kung-Chung and Professor Reto Hilty, which will be published by Wolters Kluwer in 2021.

To know more about research at the SMU School of Law, see our Research Report 2020.

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Annual Report 2020 / 19

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

RESEARCH CENTRES

CENTRE FOR AI AND DATA GOVERNANCE (CAIDG) Headed by Professor Mark Findlay (Director) and Associate Professor Warren Chik (Deputy Director), CAIDG was founded with the benefit of a S$4.5 million grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore. CAIDG focuses on three streams of research: AI and Society AI and Business AI in Specific Industries In 2020, its second full year of operations, CAIDG’s research output included:

working papers

research articles

seminars

These research streams are complemented by the SMUMicrosoft Asian Dialogue on AI Governance and the AI Ethics Hub 4 Asia, which is aimed at developing conversations about the impact of ethics and principled design by looking at the whole anatomy of AI development and big data use. In 2020, the centre entered into a research cooperation with the Munich Technology in Society and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law to produce a systematic overview of challenges posed by mobile applications, together with a methodology to assess contentious control technologies against international rule of law standards. CAIDG HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 INCLUDE: SMU-Microsoft Asian Dialogues on AI Governance, Inaugural Roundtable (16 January 2020) Seminar on Healthcare AI for a Rapidly Aging Singapore (6 February 2020) Webinar on AI in Finance: Privacy and Data Protection Sectoral Dialogue (6 August 2020) Webinar on The Saga of Tiktok and Wechat (9 October 2020) Webinar on Data, AI Governance, and COVID-19: Medium and Long-Term Perspectives for Asia (9 October 2020) Webinar on Philanthropic Structuring: The Asian Context (26 August 2020)

CAIDG Director Professor Mark Findlay also spoke at a number of AI-related webinars organised by other organisations in 2020, such as the AI for Social Good Summit jointly organised by Google, ESCAP and APRU; the Responsible AI Forum Preview by the Technical University of Munich’s Institute of Ethics in Artificial Intelligence; and the Challenges to Equitable Access: A Look at Legal and Equity Considerations Related to ensuring Access to Essential Vaccines and Therapeutics in Low and Middle Income Countries forum organised by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute. Webinar on Data, AI Governance, and COVID-19: Medium and Long-Term Perspectives for Asia This webinar was co-organised with the AI Policy Initiative (Seoul National University) and the Institute for Future Initiatives (The University of Tokyo). The webinar built on contributions from an earlier joint report published in September 2020 that mapped out responses to COVID-19 in China, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan and the potential challenges from an AI, data governance, and human rights perspective. The webinar started with Professor HakSoo Ko (Co-Director of the AI Policy Initiative) giving the opening address. This was 20 / Shaping the Future of Law

followed by a session titled Lessons learned for AI and Data Governance moderated by Associate Professor Yong Lim (CoDirector of the AI Policy Initiative), with panellists including CAIDG Director Professor Mark Findlay, Professor Yi Zeng (Chinese Academy of Science and Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence) and Associate Professor Arisa Ema (University of Tokyo). The second session on Changing Lifestyles & Governance was moderated by Associate Professor Ema, with Assistant Professor Sangchul Park (Seoul National University) joining the panel. The webinar concluded with Professor Hideaki Shiroyama (Vice Director of the Institute for Future Initiatives) delivering the closing remarks. The panellists shared with participants their reflections on the employment of COVID-19 measures and responses, and what this emerging trend of technology and big databases signalled for the future of AI governance and ethics. They covered a broad range of topics in the two sessions and weighed in on topical issues concerning data privacy, state surveillance, contact tracing applications, and good governance. Panel members also engaged in a lively discussion on the durability of these COVID-19 measures and highlighted several factors that could run counter to their effective termination in the foreseeable future. Annual Report 2020 / 21

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

RESEARCH CENTRES

CENTRE FOR COMPUTATIONAL LAW (CCLAW) Led by Assistant Professor Lim How Khang (Director) and Assistant Professor Jerrold Soh (Deputy Director), CCLAW is the newest research centre of the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law. The Research Programme in Computational Law, the Centre’s flagship project, was awarded a major grant of S$15 million by the National Research Foundation, the largest research grant received by SMU to-date. This Programme aims to make computational law a reality: from designing and implementing a domain-specific language for law (DSL), to building technologies that will bring computational capabilities to any process that involves legal or quasi-legal elements. The key technology, the DSL, allows for laws, rules and agreements to be expressed in code. This lays the foundation for ‘smart’ contracts and ‘smart’ statutes that can be reliably executed by computers or run as software to enable precise and accurate performance and compliance. The eventual industry-adoption of the DSL and the technologies built therefrom will facilitate the delivery of more efficient legal and regulatory services through digital systems and will broaden access to justice.

COVID-19 propelled technology adoption and implementation in unprecedented ways, and the legal industry – notorious for resisting remote work and technological solutions – found itself forced to adopt new norms in terms of service delivery and ‘new’ ways of working. Against this new reality, the panellists discussed how technology could be better applied to legal practice and its possible uses to mitigate compliance risks. Also discussed were the ways in which the legal profession could use open data and technology to provide timely and useful information to serve the wider community.

Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) is an international conference based in New York and is amongst the most creative and diverse hacker events in the world. An annual affair since

CCLAW’S HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 INCLUDE: Seminar on Legal Technology in Times of COVID-19 (28 May 2020) DocaCon 2020 (25 - 26 June 2020)

DocaCon 2020

Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) (25 July - 2 August 2020)

Docassemble is an open-source software that has taken a leading position in the pro bono legal services space in the United States. According to the American Bar Association Journal, Docassemble was one of the top 20 web tools for lawyers in 2018, with two of the other top 20 web tools being built using Docassemble. The software is also the platform on which other document automation tools are built, such as Documate and Community.Lawyer, which in turn have been platforms for successful alternative legal service providers such as ‘Hello, Divorce’ in California.

Academic Symposium on Innovation and Technology: Reshaping Contracts?

DocaCon is a conference for users and developers of Docassemble. The 2020 edition, which went virtual due to the pandemic, was the third annual conference and featured training, troubleshooting and demonstration presentations over the course of two days. CCLAW Principal Research Engineer, Mr Jason Morris, was invited to give a presentation on the Centre’s then recently released tool Docassemble-DADataType, which expands the capabilities of Docassemble to allow it to generate prototype user-facing interviews from nothing more than a data structure and a target document.

The Symposium gave voice to research in these areas, further building the network contributing to knowledge and progress and enabling increased impact in the delivery of social and economic value. It brought together a community of researchers and practitioners to support review and implementation of existing work, while at the same time providing a forum to act as a catalyst for further research partnerships and activity.

TechLaw.Fest 2020 (22 - 24 September 2020) IACCM-Northwestern Academic Symposium on Innovation and Technology: Reshaping Contracts? (11 - 12 November 2020)

Seminar on Legal Technology in Times of COVID-19 CCLAW and the SMU Law Academy hosted a seminar series with the legal industry to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the evolution of technology in law and the legal industry’s adoption and attitudes towards technology.

22 / Shaping the Future of Law

CCLAW Principal Research Fellow Mr Wong Meng Weng, who is also the

Programme’s Principal Investigator and co-founder of Legalese. com, delivered a lecture titled Computational Law: Why the History of Computing Could Be the Future of Law. He explored plans for an opensource domain-specific language for law and discussed how the lesserknown corners of computer science (like formal methods, controlled natural languages, and logic and constraint programming) might, together, permanently divide the traditional legal profession (which runs on humans) from a future legal industry (which runs on computers).

CCLAW Principal Research Fellow Mr Wong Meng Weng participated in the panel titled Innovation and Technology Tomorrow - Where to Go, How to Get There? alongside Ms Sally Guyer (Global CEO of World Commerce & Contracting)

and Mr David Nguyen (CEO and Founder of United Solutions), to discuss the future of contracts. Mr Wong presented the work done by CCLAW and introduced a brief prototype of the L4 language for discussion by panellists.

1994, HOPE has attracted thousands of computer scientists and technologists across the world.

Innovation and technology are driving rapid changes in contracting. This Symposium explored the nature of these changes – what it means to the software and legal industry and how technology will accelerate a computational lawdriven future.

Annual Report 2020 / 23

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

RESEARCH CENTRES

CENTRE FOR COMMERCIAL LAW IN ASIA (CCLA) Led by Associate Professor Yip Man (Director) and Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho (Deputy Director), CCLA aims to advance commercial growth in Asia marked by sustainability, inclusion and innovation, through excellent research. Formerly known as the Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia, CCLA conducts and facilitates research in all areas of commercial law, with a focus on the application, development and impact of its research in Asia. CCLA is a platform for generating great ideas and making these great ideas work by promoting academic debates and active engagement with government, practice and industry at international, regional and national levels.

Signing of Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Academy of Law (January 2020) Webinar on Philanthropic Structuring: The Asian Context (26 August 2020) Dentons Rodyk Dialogue (25 September 2020) Herbert Smith Freehills-SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture (22 October 2020) Jones Day Professorship of Commercial Law Lecture (18 November 2020) Webinar on Cryptocurrencies: A Legal Tangle for the Insolvency Industry (2 December 2020) Conference on the Roadmap to the ASEAN-EU FTA in the Post-Pandemic Era (3–4 December 2020)

Dentons Rodyk Dialogue The latest edition of the Dentons Rodyk Dialogue focussed on the theme of global smart cities and their growing importance. Close to 1,000 attendees from 18 countries joined the virtual dialogue for a lively discussion on the challenges and opportunities of increasingly smart cities. The conference featured a keynote speech by SMU President Professor Lily Kong, who discussed the ASEAN Smart Cities Network as a regional example of rapid urbanisation and also set out some challenges that Singapore might face as well as potential solutions. The Guest of Honour, Minister Desmond Lee, also delivered an illuminating speech, highlighting the acceleration of digitalisation brought on by the pandemic and reiterating the need to elevate the whole nation even as the benefits of technology were pursued. Herbert Smith Freehills-SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture The 2020 Herbert Smith Freehills-SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture was delivered virtually by Ms Loretta Malintoppi (39 Essex Chambers) on a most timely and relevant topic. Titled Don’t Shoot the Sheriff: The Threat of Legal Claims Against Arbitrators and Arbitral Institutions, the lecture explored the current approaches in national laws, case law and arbitration rules to limit arbitrators’ liability. Ms Malintoppi also proposed innovative solutions to deal with potential issues, such as the early dismissal of frivolous cases as well as the possibility of arbitral institutions obtaining insurance coverage.

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Jones Day Professorship of Commercial Law Lecture

CCLA’S HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 INCLUDE:

Professor Lyria Bennett Moses (UNSW) was the 2020 Jones Day Professor of Commercial Law. Her illuminating online lecture, titled Artificial Intelligence and the Idea of a Legal Singularity, discussed the increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the modern world as well as its possible impact on the legal industry. The audience also heard from the Guest of Honour, Justice Lee Seiu Kin (Supreme Court of Singapore), who offered his separate remarks on the various applications of AI currently existing in the legal field and also highlighted certain issues which the Singapore legal industry might usefully consider when harnessing the full potential of AI in the future. Conference on the Roadmap to the ASEAN-EU FTA in the Post-Pandemic Era

Roadmap to the

The Centre organised an academic conference ASEAN-EU FTA in the focusing on issues relating to a future free trade Post-Pandemic Era agreement that might be concluded between the ASEAN and EU blocs. Convened by SMU faculty members Associate Professor Pasha Hsieh and Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson, the conference featured a sterling line-up of global speakers and panellists. Stimulating discussions were held regarding potential keystone issues in a future ASEAN-EU free trade agreement, such as those on e-commerce, sustainable development and regulatory cooperation. The convenors also expressed their gratitude to His Excellency Igor Driesmans (EU Ambassador to ASEAN), Ms Mary Elizabeth Chelliah (Ministry of Trade and Industry), Ms Justyna Lasik (EU Delegation to Singapore) and other valued participants for delivering keynote remarks, moderating the panel sessions and contributing to the discussions.

Cryptocurrencies: A Legal Tangle for the Insolvency Industry

Webinar on Cryptocurrencies: A Legal Tangle for the Insolvency Industry Also in December 2020, the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative, one of CCLA’s research initiatives, organised a webinar on topical issues relating to cryptocurrencies and insolvency regulation in collaboration with INSOL, a global industry research partner. Leading practitioners and academics treated audience members to a fascinating discussion on the intersection between two areas of law and legal practice that are rapidly evolving in these technology-fuelled times.

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RESEARCH CENTRES

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACADEMY (SIDRA)

Webinar on Investor-State Mediation This webinar was held in conjunction with the entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation. The panellists included Mr Zannis Mavrogordato (Twenty Essex), Ms Lucy Reed (Arbitration Chambers), Ms Frauke Nitschke (ICSID), Professor Nadja Alexander and Associate Professor Darius Chan, with Ms Anna Joubin-Bret from UNCITRAL giving an introductory address. Amongst other topics, the panellists discussed the mechanics of the Singapore Convention and its application to investor-state disputes, the implications of the opt-out provisions in the Singapore Convention in relation to state parties, and the exceptions to enforcement and ensuing implications under the Convention. The webinar was attended by practitioners, academics and other interested stakeholders from all around the world, including Singapore, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, UK, and USA.

Launch of the SIDRA International Dispute Resolution Final Report 2020

International Mediation Centre), Mr Wong Taur Jiun (Rabobank Singapore), Ms Camilla Godman (CIArb) and Mr Michael Peer (PwC). Webinar on Conflict of Laws in BRI Disputes: A Comparative Approach SIDRA is a platform for thought leadership in international dispute resolution theory, practice and policy. A research centre led by Academic Director Professor Nadja Alexander and Deputy Director Associate Professor Darius Chan, SIDRA leads the way through projects, publications and events that promote dynamic and inclusive conversations on how to constructively engage with and resolve differences and disputes at global, regional and national levels. In particular, SIDRA differentiates itself through its focus on applied research that has practical impact on industry. Specifically, SIDRA is mandated with three research programmes: the International Dispute Resolution (IDR) Survey research programme; the Singapore Convention on Mediation (SCM) research programme; and the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) research programme.

Launch of the SIDRA International Dispute Resolution Final Report 2020 SIDRA launched its International Dispute Resolution Survey 2020 Final Report (IDR Survey) via a webinar. The Survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Law and administered by PwC South East Asia Consulting, and examined how businesses and their legal representatives make decisions about cross-border disputes. Covering arbitration, mediation, litigation, hybrid mechanisms and investor-state disputes, the Survey amassed more than 300 responses across 46 countries. Professor Nadja Alexander, Mr Vakhtang Giorgadze and Ms Allison Goh from the SIDRA research team gave an overview of the key findings, followed by a discussion with esteemed panellists Justice Anselmo Reyes (Singapore International Commercial Court), Mr Daryl Chew (Shearman & Sterling Singapore), Mr Antony Cook (Microsoft Asia), Mr George Lim SC (Singapore

In this webinar, panellists Associate Professor Darius Chan, Dr Christopher Boog (Schellenberg Wittmer) and Mr Patrick Zheng (LLinks Law Offices) discussed conflict of laws issues relating to determination of the law of the governing contract, the law of the arbitration agreement, and the competing choices of law in interim measures. The webinar provided a substantive, yet practice-oriented review of the approach taken in relation to resolving conflict of law issues from the common law, Chinese, Swiss, and German law perspectives. The event was moderated by Ms Allison Goh (Research Associate, SIDRA) and saw

participants tuning in from 27 countries and territories around the world. Webinar on China and International Adjudication – China’s Approach in its Investor-State and Inter-State Disputes In October 2020, SIDRA hosted a webinar on China and International Adjudication, focusing on China’s approach in its investor-state and inter-state disputes. Professor Chester Brown (University of Sydney) spoke on litigation and arbitration and Dr Mark McLaughlin (Global Visiting Assistant Professor, SMU) discussed mediation and dispute resolution mechanisms under the Belt and Road Initiative. The panellists also provided their perspectives on key investor-state cases to which China has been a party. Moderated by Ms Rachel Tan (Research & Development Operations Lead, SIDRA), the panellists and participants engaged in a lively discussion.

Conflict of Laws in BRI Disputes: A Comparative Approach

SIDRA’S HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 INCLUDE:

Launch of the SIDRA International Dispute Resolution Final Report 2020 (3 July 2020) Webinar on Conflict of Laws in BRI Disputes: A Comparative Approach (14 July 2020) Webinar on Investor-State Mediation (12 September 2020) Webinar on China and International Adjudication (9 October 2020)

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OTHER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

ICON·S (SINGAPORE CHAPTER) ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Jointly organised by Yong Pung How School of Law and NUS Law, the Singapore Chapter of the International Society of Public Law, ICON-S, held a symposium titled (Un)gendering Public Law in Asia on 23 September 2020. The symposium was moderated by the Chapter’s co-chairs, Associate Professor Maartje De Visser and Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo (NUS), and featured speakers from a range of Asia-Pacific universities. The

discussion centred on the extent to which public law constitutes and is constituted by gender norms, in Singapore as well as the wider Asia-Pacific region. The Panellists spoke on a variety of topics such as the role of social movements, conceptions of feminism, the decriminalisation of adultery, representation of women in politics, the interplay between gender and health, as well as gendered approaches to criminal law.

Global Public-Private Law Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic

CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL PUBLICPRIVATE LAW APPROACHES TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC On 10 September 2020, the School of Law hosted a conference on Global Public-Private Law Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic, organised by Assistant Professor Kenny Chng and Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho. Although the Conference had to take place virtually due to ongoing public safety regulations, this also facilitated the attendance of presenters, chairs and participants from all around the world. A global audience was in keeping with the primary aim of the Conference, which was to exchange comparative scholarly insights into how different legal systems across the world had grappled with the public and private law aspects of the pandemic. Following welcome remarks from Professor Lee Pey Woan (SMU Vice Provost, Faculty Matters), the Conference proceedings began with a Keynote Address by Justice Anselmo

Reyes SC (SICC), who laid out the challenges and opportunities facing our societies in typically thought-provoking terms. This was followed by two panel sessions on the themes of COVID-19 and the Rule of Law and New Landscapes in Public Law. Chaired respectively by Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo (NUS) and Associate Professor Maartje De Visser, the panels saw presenters and participants engaged in vigorous and constructive conversations on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Rule of Law and other public law principles, as well as their possible paths of development in the foreseeable future. In the afternoon the Conference focus shifted to a diverse range of private and commercial law topics. Three panel sessions were convened on the themes of International Trade and Corporate Law Issues, Revisiting the Law of Contract and Commercial Law and Litigation in Extraordinary Times. Many interesting and fruitful discussions took place between the presenters and participants during these lively sessions.

LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING FORUM

HKU-SMU ASIAN PRIVATE LAW WORKSHOP 2020 The third edition of the HKU-SMU Asian Private Law Workshop went online this year. The travel restrictions did not, however, pose any impediment to the sharing of big ideas and diverse perspectives. Organised by Associate Professor Yip Man, Associate Professor Alvin See and Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho and held on 28 May 2020, the workshop featured 9 papers addressing a wide range of topics including the equitable 28 / Shaping the Future of Law

compensation for non-custodial breaches of fiduciary duties and a comparison of the Unfair Contract Terms Act in Singapore and Hong Kong. Associate Professor Yip Man, Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho and Lecturer Nicholas Liu presented 3 papers, while 12 other faculty contributed as chairpersons, commentators and discussants.

The semi-annual Legal Research and Writing Forum was held in June and December 2020 by the three Singapore law schools – SMU, NUS and SUSS. SMU’s Associate Professor Chen Siyuan, Senior Lecturer Ong Ee Ing, Lecturer Nicholas Liu and Adjunct Faculty Fong Wei Li represented SMU. In the June forum, participants shared their respective experiences with online teaching and discussed ways to improve students’ learning experiences in the coming term. They also considered ways in which online learning could be used to transform teaching, even after the pandemic was resolved. In the December forum, the discussions centred on the pedagogy of legal research and writing, focusing on designing legal writing courses that featured adaptive learning. Also discussed was how legal analysis should be contextdependent so that students could vary their work product depending on their purpose and audience. Annual Report 2020 / 29

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RESEARCH IMPACT

CITATIONS BY COURTS AND GOVERNMENTAL BODIES The research of many of our faculty members was heavily cited by the courts and other governmental bodies. Some of the notable citations in 2020 include:

Research Cited

Cited In

Chen Siyuan and Eunice Chua, ‘Changes to the Evidence Act Public Prosecutor v Adaikalaraj a/l Iruthayam & Suresh s/o and Criminal Procedure Code’ (2018) 30 Singapore Academy Krishnan [2020] SGDC 141 of Law Journal 1064 Chen Siyuan, Singapore Academy of Law, Law Reform Committee – Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee, Report on the Attribution of Civil Liability for Accidents Involving Automated Cars (September 2020).

Law Commission (England and Wales) / Scottish Law Commission, Automated Vehicles: Consultation Paper 3 – A regulatory framework for automated vehicles (Law Commission Consultation Paper No 252 / Scottish Law Commission Discussion Paper No 171, December 2020)

Weihuan Zhou, Henry Gao and Xue Bai, ‘Building a Market L. Rubini and T. Wang, ‘State-Owned Enterprises’ in Aaditya Mattoo, Economy Through WTO-Inspired Reform of State-Owned Nadia Rocha and Michelle Ruta (eds), Handbook of Deep Trade Enterprises in China’ (2019) 68 International and Comparative Agreements (World Bank Group, 2020) Law Quarterly 977

AMICI CURIAE In 2020, 3 faculty members were appointed as amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) to render their assistance to the Singapore courts. Professor Yeo Tiong Min SC (Hon) was invited by the Court of Appeal to provide his opinion on when the doctrine of issue estoppel applied to a foreign judgment in Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp v Merck KGaA [2021] 1 SLR 1102. Associate Professor Alvin See provided his opinion on the correct form for a writ of seizure and sale over land in the Singapore Court of Appeal case of Singapore Air Charter Pte Ltd v Peter Low & Choo LLC [2020] 2 SLR 1399. Lecturer Nicholas Liu gave his views to the Singapore High Court in PP v Su Jiqing Joel “[2021] 3 SLR 1232 on the right approach to determine the quantum of fine to be meted out for unlawful provision of short-term accommodation.

EXTERNAL RESEARCH GRANTS Our research centres have benefitted immensely from multi-million dollar grants by governmental agencies such as the National Research Foundation, the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Ministry of Law. In addition to these research grants, our faculty members also received the following funding from various external sources: Professor Locknie Hsu was awarded a grant (2019 - 2020) by the Singapore Judicial College (SJC) for her project Dispute Settlement Projects / Transactions in the Belt and Road Initiative. Associate Professor Maartje De Visser was also awarded a grant by the SJC for her project focusing on transnational peerto-peer training for judges in the ASEAN region. Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez was awarded a grant by the Ministry of Law. The grant seeks to contribute to the development of the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative. Assistant Professor Jerrold Soh was awarded a grant as Principal Investigator for a project titled The State of Legal Innovation in Asia-Pacific by the Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association.

Goh Yihan, The Interpretation of Contracts in Singapore Lim Beng Kiat v Mohammad Sarman bin Saidi [2020] SGDC 46 (Sweet & Maxwell, 2018) Andrew Phang and Goh Yihan, ‘Contract Law in Law Society of Singapore v Lee Suet Fern [2020] 5 SLR 1151 (HC) Commonwealth Countries: Uniformity or Divergence?’ (2019) 31 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 170-245 Nydia Remolina, ‘Open Banking: Regulatory Challenges for a New Form of Financial Intermediation in a Data-Driven World’ (2019) SMU Centre for AI & Data Governance Research Paper No 2019/05

Unidad de Regulación Financiera [Financial Regulation Unit, Colombia], Documento de Trabajo: Open Banking y Portabilidad en Colombia [Consultation Paper on Open Banking and Data Portability] (December 2020)

Kenneth Khoo and Jerrold Soh, ‘The Inefficiency of Quasi- Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative Inc v Agri Stats Inc No 19 C Per Se Rules: Regulating Information Exchange in EU and 8318 (19 October 2020) (District Court, Northern District of Illinois) U.S. Antitrust Law’ (2020) 57 American Business Law Journal 45-111 Yeo Tiong Min, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 6(2): Christopher Yun Hian Chen v BHNV Online Ltd [2020] SGHC 284 Conflict of Laws) (LexisNexis, 2020) Yeo Tiong Min, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 6(2): Esben Finance Ltd v Wong Hou-Lianq Neil [2021] 3 SLR 82 (SICC) Conflict of Laws) (LexisNexis, 2020) Yeo Tiong Min, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (Vol 6(2): Ivanishvili, Bidzina v Credit Suisse Trust Ltd [2020] 2 SLR 638 (CA) Conflict of Laws) (LexisNexis, 2020)

Associate Professor Eugene K B Tan completed his research on International Standards: Catalyst or Barrier for Innovative Entrepreneurship in Singapore? which was conducted under the auspices of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore’s inaugural research grant (2018 - 2020).

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OUTREACH ACTIVITIES BY FACULTY

Our faculty members shared their opinions with several governmental, regulatory and international organisations in 2020. Professor Nadja Alexander reviewed and gave advice to Mongolia on its mediation legislation. Associate Professor Eugene K B Tan was a member of the Singapore delegation for the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the 38th Session of the UPR Working Group at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Ambassador-at-Large Professor Chan Heng Chee led the delegation, which also comprised officials from 12 Government ministries and agencies. Associate Professor Henry Gao spoke on the WTO Rules and China at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law. Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez chaired a panel discussion on cryptocurrencies and insolvency in an event organised by the SMU Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative and the INSOL International Academic Group.

RESEARCH AWARDS

Yong Pung How Professorship of Law Established by the Yong Shook Lin Trust, the Yong Pung How Professorship of Law is conferred on an eminent individual who has distinguished himself or herself in the legal profession. The chair is presently held by Professor Yeo Tiong Min SC (Hon). DS Lee Foundation Fellowship Established by the DS Lee Foundation, the DS Lee Foundation Fellowship was conferred on Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho. Lee Kong Chian Professorship / Fellowship The Lee Kong Chian Professorships and Fellowships were established by the Lee Kong Chian Fund for Research Excellence founded by the Lee Foundation. The 2020 holders were:

Adjunct faculty and Research Associate at the SMU Centre for AI and Data Governance, Nydia Remolina participated as a keynote speaker in the Financial Security and Innovation Conference 2020 organised by the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA Bankers) and the Latin American Banking Federation (FELABAN). Several faculty members also contributed to significant law and policy debates via more than 40 op-eds, blog posts and interviews: Professor Chan Wing Cheong, Professor Goh Yihan SC, Professor Nadja Alexander, Associate Professor Eugene Tan, Associate Professor Heng Gao, Associate Professor Pasha Hsieh, Associate Professor Zhang Wei, Associate Professor Tan Seow Hon, Assistant Professor Benjamin Joshua Ong, and Assistant Professor Edward Ti.

Associate Professor Christopher Chen

Assistant Professor Malavika Jayaram

Assistant Professor Kenny Chng

Associate Professor Alvin See

Associate Professor Maartje De Visser

Associate Professor Yip Man

Associate Professor Pasha L Hsieh

OTHER AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Professor Nadja Alexander’s paper ‘Ten Trends in International Mediation’ (2019) 31 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 405 was awarded Outstanding Professional Article by the Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, New York. Professor Alexander also continued to be recognised as one of four Global Thought Leaders in the field of Mediation by Who’s Who Legal 2020. Associate Professor Darius Chan and SIDRA Research Affiliate Ervin Tan’s paper ‘The Use of State-Owned Entities Along the BRI: When Does ICSID Have Jurisdiction Over SOEs’ Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal (forthcoming) won the

best paper award at the 2020 Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation organised by the Chinese Arbitration Association and the Asian Centre for WTO & International Trade Law and Policy. A report submitted by a team of eight SMU law students led by Associate Professor Henry Gao was ranked third out of 60 submissions submitted globally to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific in its Policy Hackathon on Trade Model Provisions in Times of Crisis and Pandemic. The report outlined Singapore’s use of its trade agreements to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic.

VISITING SCHOLARS The SMU Yong Pung How School of Law has standing agreements on faculty exchange and research with leading universities. In addition to these formal arrangements, we host a significant number of faculty from other institutions each year. They deliver faculty seminars and contribute to research collections. In 2020, we were privileged to host the following academics from across the globe:

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Professor Chester Brown (University of Sydney) Professor Chen Li (Fudan University) Professor Dov Greenbaum (Harry Radzyner Law School) Professor Dino Kritsiotis (University of Nottingham)

Associate Professor Orkun Akseli (Durham University) Associate Professor Hengameh Saberi (York University) Dr Ardavan Arzandeh (University of Bristol)

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EXTERNAL RELATIONS

GLOBAL FACULTY SEMINARS

Virtuous Judgment: The Relevance of Character in Legal Decision-Making

In 2020, we continued to expand our international outreach through close collaboration with other research-intensive universities. These included strengthening our existing relationship with Fudan University Law School as well as hosting a number of Global Faculty Seminars featuring leading international academics.

On 19 November 2020, Professor Amalia Amaya (University of Edinburgh-National Autonomous University of Mexico) presented a seminar titled Virtuous Judgment: The Relevance of Character in Legal Decision-Making. The session was chaired by Associate Professor Tan Seow Hon.

SMU-Fudan University Webinars The Yong Pung How School of Law invited Fudan University Law School to a three-part webinar series collectively titled New Developments in Advanced Legal Education focusing on commercial and financial law, dispute resolution, and law and technology. Speakers from Fudan University included Professor Congyan Cai, Professor Chen Li, Professor Duoqi Xu, Associate Professor Hao Xiong, Associate Professor Lu Zhi’an, Assistant Professor Jiangqiu Ge, and Assistant Professor Lin Nuannuan, while SMU speakers included Professor Goh Yihan SC, Associate Professor Darius Chan, Associate Professor Christopher Chen, Associate Professor Zhang Wei, Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez, Assistant Professor Lim How Khang, and Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson.

Nuisance and the Limits of Tort On 8 December 2020, Professor James Lee (King’s College London) presented a seminar titled Nuisance and the Limits of Tort. The session was chaired by Professor Tham Chee Ho.

Pedagogy and Canon in Comparative Constitutional Law On 14 October 2020, Professor David S. Law (University of Hong Kong) presented a seminar titled Pedagogy and Canon in Comparative Constitutional Law. The session was chaired by Associate Professor Maartje De Visser. 34 / Shaping the Future of Law

Annual Report 2020 / 35

KWA GEOK CHOO LAW LIBRARY

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

KWA GEOK CHOO

LAW LIBRARY

BOOK DISPLAYS AND COLLECTION UPDATES The Law Library featured the following themes in their 2020 book displays:

Law Librarians

Pitfalls and promises: How has the Belt and Road Initiative impacted global trade? In 2013, the idea of a trade route connecting China with the rest of the world was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The initiative was estimated to involve over 68 countries (40% of the world’s GDP) and 65% of the world’s population. Since then, the potential promises and pitfalls of this initiative have been widely discussed and debated.

TEACHING

FACULTY RESEARCH

1,342 participants benefited from 70 law learning programmes including classes, research consultations and orientations.

As of December 2020, the SMU institutional repository InK had the following developments:

The law librarians continued to provide course-integrated sessions for Legal Research & Writing, Business Law, and orientations for the LLB and LLM students. To ensure that the students were adequately prepared for their internships, the library offered a Legal Internship Workshop, and shared a new Legal Internship Research Toolkit with the students. Chai Yee Xin

(Research Librarian)

Samantha Lim

(Research Librarian)

Several new offerings were also introduced, including Comparative Legal Systems; library briefings to the moot teams; new bite-sized workshops (Arbitration Research 101 and Navigating Manupatra: How to locate Indian legal resources); and a research component in the new Bachelor of Science (Computing and Law) degree.

201

new publications

194,044

times downloaded in 2020

56%

full-text PDFs

SMU Libraries launched the SMU Research Data Repository (RDR). SMU RDR is a tool and service for all researchers to store, share and publish their research data.

2020 proved to be a challenging year because of the COVID-19 crisis, where many users were unable to access the physical library at certain points of time. The library strove to support the faculty in preparing their reading list materials given the existing constraints, such as by recommending alternative electronic textbooks where possible, and providing scanned chapters (subject to the copyright limit). SMU Libraries continued to encourage the use of the Reading List Management System and 53 reading lists were published in 2020.

A Stranger in My Own House: A Look Into Modern Day Xenophobia In recent years, there has been an increasing trend towards nationalism, xenophobia, and even discrimination across various societies and, notably, during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. SMU Libraries have compiled books on the topic of xenophobia and racism ranging from South African xenophobia during the Ebola crisis to border control in America.

Services Updates

Staff Updates

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the library continued to be well-utilised.

SMU Libraries welcomes Ms Bethany Wilkes, who was appointed as the new University Librarian in March 2020. She has lived and worked in Singapore for almost five years, and she was College Librarian at Yale-NUS College, Singapore prior to joining SMU. Bethany has worked in academic libraries in several parts of the world, including Hong Kong, the Virgin Islands, and Alaska. She is active in local and international library organisations, in particular the International Association of University Libraries (IATUL) Special Interest Group for the Advancement of Library Services in Emerging Countries (SIG-ALICE).

154,159 visitors in 2020

Collection Updates To support remote study and work, the library subscribed to an additional legal e-book database, Thomson Reuters’ ProView. Electronic textbooks were also purchased from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Edward Elgar Publishing, and VitalSource. In April 2020, LawLIS covered updates in COVID-19 resources, including free legal resources available from databases and websites as researchers shifted their focus to the current pandemic.

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managed

Library received

and

2,947 enquiries

The Kwa Geok Choo Law Library received 154,159 visitors in 2020 and managed 2,947 enquiries. Many users tapped extensively on the online services offered. ‘Ask Library’, the virtual chat service was used 1,449 times and 49 of the research consultations and classes took place online. LibKey Nomad, a new research tool, was promoted to users where they download a browser extension to find full text articles when researching the open web using Google, Google Scholar, Wikipedia and selected publishers’ sites.

Ms Chai Yee Xin contributed an article titled ‘COVID-19 in Singapore: How Are Academic Libraries Responding and Coping during a Crisis?’ in (2020) 28(2) Australian Law Librarian 88. Ms Samantha Lim completed her MSc Information Science (Data Analytics) from Northumbria University and was promoted to Research Librarian Law. Her manuscript, ‘A Case Study of Singapore Management University Libraries: Adopting a Mixed Methods Approach Toward Collection Evaluation’, was accepted for publication in the Journal of Academic Librarianship.

Annual Report 2020 / 39

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

OVERVIEW OF

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

The Yong Pung How School of Law offers three programmes and is home to a vibrant community of around 800 students.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

BACHELOR OF LAWS (LLB) The LLB is a 4-year meritorious honours programme with 36 course units (CU) worth of courses. The LLB curriculum, regularly revised to meet the needs of a fast-changing economy, was originally formulated by legal academics and practitioners after extensive discussions, and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Law and Singapore’s then Board of Legal Education.

95.5%

Overall employment rate

696

Total enrolment

163

Freshmen

JURIS DOCTOR (JD)

MASTER OF LAWS (LLM)

The JD programme is a postgraduate qualifying law degree for students who have undergraduate degrees in other disciplines and those who have studied law in civil law countries and in other jurisdictions.

The LLM programme, with three specialised tracks, is carefully designed to expand the legal knowledge of a legal professional in classic and novel areas of the law, while simultaneously equipping legal professionals with the skill-sets required to render accurate advice on cross-border transactions or deliver high-quality adjudication and judicial administration.

Total enrolment

Freshmen

Total enrolment

*Figures are accurate as at 31 December 2020.

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INNOVATIONS IN

TEACHING

EXCELLENCE

The school has continued its tradition of high-quality teaching. In particular, for Term 1 academic year 2020/2021, both instructor and course ratings were at their highest over the past 6 years. This is notable as courses were taught almost entirely online during that term. Compared to the previous term, more students found it easier to achieve their learning outcomes in online classes. The school thus encouraged instructors to explore harnessing the benefits of online teaching tools when teaching resumed in face-toface mode to provide our students with a more blended learning experience.

Teaching Excellence To recognise the dedication of colleagues in pursuing teaching excellence, the school confers various awards for outstanding teaching performance each year. In 2020, the award winners were: Responding Swiftly to COVID-19 Following the COVID-19 outbreak, since mid-February 2020, classes have mostly been taught online. By the second half of the year, instructors had clearly become more familiar with teaching online, as evidenced by significantly better teaching evaluation compared to the previous term. The pandemic also led to the suspension of international student exchanges, which in turn resulted in an increase in demand for elective courses. About five additional elective courses were offered each term to meet the demand, which strained existing teaching resources. However, the receptivity towards online teaching also brought about new opportunities. Four of the electives were taught online by reputable academics from Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom, thereby bringing the world closer to us. Keeping our Curriculum Future-Ready The Yong Pung How School of Law launched a law and technology primer, titled Law 2.0: Emerging Technologies and their Legal Implications, to equip its students with essential background knowledge on emerging technologies, and encourage them to think broadly about its impact on traditional legal issues. The primer benefitted greatly from the research capabilities of the SMU Centre for AI and Data Governance and the SMU Centre for Computational Law. This initiative is part of the school’s ongoing efforts in keeping our law curriculum future-ready and relevant. In the same vein, the following new law and technology electives were introduced into the curriculum:

In addition, the school reconstituted its Curriculum Review Committee, now led by Associate Professors Alvin See and Zhang Wei. The goal of the curriculum review is to explore how the LLB and JD curricula can be modernised to better prepare our graduates to confront problems of the future, which are expected to be more complex and multidisciplinary. A number of the proposals, such as increased freedom within the curriculum and the introduction of a capstone course, are likely to be introduced for the incoming 2021 cohort and fine-tuned for subsequent cohorts.

Juris Doctor Recipient Assistant Professor Kenny Chng Master of Laws Recipient Senior Lecturer Ong Ee Ing

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING AWARD Most Outstanding Teacher Award Assistant Professor Kenny Chng Most Promising Teacher Award Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez Top LGST Teacher Award Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho Top Adjunct Award Mr Fong Wei Li

DEAN’S TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD Professor Gary Chan Professor Tang Hang Wu

Digital Innovation for Access to Justice

Associate Professor Darius Chan

FinTech Law

POSTGRADUATE TEACHING AWARD

Computational Thinking & Legal Technology Digital Intelligence for Lawyers

Associate Professor Adeline Chong

Assistant Professor Kenny Chng

7 Professor Tang Hang Wu

Law for Technologies and Pandemics

Associate Professor Maartje De Visser

2 Senior Lecturer Ong Ee Ing

8 Associate Professor Darius Chan

3 Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez

9 Associate Professor Adeline Chong

Legal Design

Associate Professor Tan Seow Hon

4 Assistant Professor Lau Kwan Ho

10 Associate Professor Maartje De Visser

5 Mr Fong Wei Li

11 Associate Professor Tan Seow Hon

Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson

6 Professor Gary Chan

12 Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson

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ENGAGEMENT WITH THE

UNDERGRADUATE

LEGAL PROFESSION

Our instructors regularly invite legal professionals to give guest lectures and share their experiences with our students. This adds a practical dimension to our legal curriculum, ensuring that it is relevant and up to date. In 2020, we were honoured to have several legal professionals speak to our students.

Course Beyond the Law: Regulatory Mechanisms in Cross-Border Issues in the Asian Context

Guest Speakers Mr Ang Seow Lian (Senior Deputy Director, Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau)

Compliance & Mr Francis Xavier SC (Regional Head, Disputes Resolution Group, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP) Risk Management for Lawyers Mr Wilson Ang (Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright (Asia) LLP)

Criminal Law

Dr Kenji Gwee (Principal Clinical Forensic Psychologist, IMH)

Ethics & Social Responsibility Mr Nick Lim Cheng Yip (Assistant Brand Manager, Singapore offices of Procter & Gamble) Mr Wang Zhemin (Chief Resident, Internal Medicine Residency Programme, National University Hospital)

Ethics & Social Responsibility Mr Eric Te (Global Head of Legal, Bank of Singapore) for Law

Family Law

Mr Raymond Yeo (Sole Proprietor, Raymond Yeo)

Legal Theory & Philosophy

Ms Ada Chua (Senior Associate, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP) Ms Joyce Low (Senior State Counsel, Civil Division, Attorney-General’s Chambers) Ms Amy Tung (Head of Legal, Ministry of Social and Family Development)

Law of Real Estate

Mr Wan Kwong Weng (Group CCO, Mapletree) Ms Wong Ee Kean (Partner, WongPartnership LLP) Mr Chen Zhen (GM, GSUM-Titanland Capital)

The Singapore Legal System; Legal Research and Writing

Mr Edwin Tong SC (Second Minister for Law) Mr Seow Zhixiang (Deputy Senior State Counsel, Legislative Division, Attorney-General’s Chambers) Mr Johannes Hadi (Associate, Eugene Thuraisingam LLP)

Topics in Financial Crime

Ms Peggy Pao-Keerthi (Executive Director, Enforcement Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore) Mr Eric Chia, (Director & Head, Market Conduct Investigations Division II, Enforcement Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore)

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PROGRAMMES

BSc (Computing & Law) As the legal profession confronts the challenges posed by rapid automation and digitalisation, the Yong Pung How School of Law continually seeks to equip its students with the skills and knowledge relevant to a digital economy. In 2019, a significant stride was taken in that direction through the launch of the BSc (Computing and Law), a 4-year direct honours undergraduate degree programme jointly offered by the Yong Pung How School of Law and the School of Computing and Information Systems. This is a path-breaking offering as it is the first of its kind in the Asian region. Recognising the inevitable transformation of legal services in a context of rapid technological developments, the programme is aimed at equipping technical professionals with in-depth understanding of the fundamental goals, values and techniques of legal practice. Graduates of this programme may seek employment in legal, commercial or regulatory sectors or (subject to satisfactory performance) pursue a JD education to qualify for practice as an advocate and solicitor. Assistant Professor Lim How Khang is currently the Director of the programme. The first cohort of students commenced their studies in 2020. These students have been placed as interns in multinational companies including Reckitt and government agencies such as the Office of Transformation and Innovation. New Introduction to Law Programme for Freshmen One innovation introduced in 2020 was the Introduction to Law programme, which takes place shortly before the first term of the first year of the LLB course and aims to prepare incoming students for their studies in the years to come by providing them with the necessary background information on the study

of law, the diverse array of career pathways for law, and how to make the most of their time at law school. The inaugural run of the Introduction to Law programme in 2020 took the form of a series of webinars. The series kicked off with a webinar on common law reasoning delivered by Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson, Senior Lecturer of Law Ong Ee Ing, Lecturer Nicholas Liu and Adjunct Faculty Mr Fong Wei Li. This introduced our freshmen to the study of case law, which they will find helpful as they embark on the study of more substantive topics in Week 1. The second webinar, titled Tomorrow’s Lawyers 1, was a panel discussion moderated by Associate Professor Darius Chan. SMU alumni, Mr Joshua Tan, Mr Joshua Lim, Mr Devathas Satianathan and Ms Nerissa Tan, candidly shared their respective experiences in legal practice. They also provided freshmen with practical advice on the necessary skills and values that aspiring lawyers should cultivate to thrive in various pathways in an evolving legal landscape. In the final webinar, titled Tomorrow’s Lawyers 2, Assistant Professor Lim How Khang and Assistant Professor Jerrold Soh hosted panellists Ms Alexis Chun from the Centre for Computational Law, Ms Amelia Chew from the Smart Nation & Digital Government Office and Mr Chan Yuk Lun, SMU alumnus and founder of Singaporelegaladvice.com. The panellists discussed the increasing adoption of technology within the legal industry and the kind of skill that is required if one wishes to venture into career in law and technology.

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Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

UNDERGRADUATE

POSTGRADUATE

PROGRAMMES

Prominent JD Alumni

Experiential Learning

JURIS DOCTOR (JD)

The SMU teaching pedagogy includes amongst its distinctive pedagogical features a strong emphasis on experiential learning. This form of learning is frequently achieved through SMU-X courses, which are project-based courses taught by SMU faculty in conjunction with an industry partner who provides close mentorship for students tasked to devise solutions for real life problems.

Despite the ‘COVID year’, the JD 2020 admission cohort retained its intake numbers with 42 candidates accepting the school’s offers. The JD programme saw a change in programme director, with Associate Professor Zhang Wei taking over from Associate Professor Maartje De Visser in July 2020.

JD alumnus, Mr Pritam Singh (Class of 2012, pioneer batch) was elected as Member of Parliament and appointed as Leader of the Opposition after the 2020 General Election.

Profiles of JD students

A total of 7 unique SMU-X courses were offered in 2020 with enrolments of over 200. Among these, there is one new offering: Legal Design. Co-taught by alumni Mr Marc Chia (LLB & BBM, 2018), Mr Rodney Yap (LLB & BBM, 2018) and Mr Shafiq Yussaini (BSc (IS), 2018), the course introduced the use of Design Thinking in solving challenges in the delivery of legal services.

21-46

Age Range

Curriculum Changes The mandatory Law-Related basket of courses originally consisted of just 2 courses: Finance for Law and Financial Accounting for Law. These non-law courses equip our graduates with skills that are proven to be highly useful, particularly for those who practice in the areas of corporate and commercial law. To enhance the multidisciplinary nature of our law curriculum, the basket was expanded to include four other courses: Economics and Society, Introduction to Political and Policy Studies, Introductory Statistics and Understanding Societies.

Average Age

53:47

Male-to-Female Ratio

4.5 years

Picture from WP website

Average Work Experience

24%

International Students

SMU JD-MBA Advance Placement

JD alumnus, Mr Anil Balchandani (Class of 2012, pioneer batch), defended domestic helper, Ms Parti Liyani, pro bono and succeeded on appeal to the High Court. He was given high praise by Justice Chan Seng Onn: “his written submissions were detailed and well-footnoted; his arguments were persuasive.... he handled all these matters single handedly and had shown much dedication in his probono work for this case.”

The Yong Pung How School of Law collaborated with the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business to offer JD students a JD-MBA advance placement. Admissions will be conducted separately by JD and MBA programmes and students must meet the admission requirements of each school.

SMU LLM Alumni Admission to the JD Programme To facilitate better integration between the postgraduate programmes and to expand the applicant pool of JD students, LLM alumni who have graduated within the past three years with a GPA of at least 3.4 will be exempted from admission tests when applying for the JD programme. They are also able to transfer 5 course units from their LLM course work and will be given a discount on tuition fees of the JD programme. Picture from Anil Balchandani’s LinkedIn

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Singapore Management University

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POSTGRADUATE

PROGRAMMES

PROGRAMMES Dual LLM in Commercial Law (Singapore & London) The Dual LLM in Commercial Law is a collaboration between the Yong Pung How School of Law and Queen Mary University of London. In 2020, it recorded its largest intake. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the two law schools were able to effectively deliver the programme to the students using virtual methods. Prominent LLM Alumni Mr Luiz Piauhylino Neto from the Class of 2017 has recently opened a new law firm in Lisbon, Portugal. Piauhylino & Associados offers tailor-made advice for foreign nationals that are relocating to or interested in investing in Portugal. The Yong Pung How School of Law congratulates Luiz on this milestone achievement.

MASTER OF LAWS (LLM)

LLM in Cross-Border Business and Finance Law in Asia

37 students enrolled in the LLM programmes in 2020.

The school’s signature track, the LLM in Cross-Border Business and Finance Law in Asia, continues to see a high number of applicants and enrolments. In 2020, there were a total of 23 enrolled students, with several more choosing to defer their studies due to the pandemic.

LLM in Judicial Studies The Yong Pung How School of Law began its inaugural run of the LLM in Judicial Studies track in the summer of 2020. The LLM in Judicial Studies is the first of its kind in the region designed specifically for judges and judicial aspirants. Scholarships from external donors Jones Day and the Lee Foundation have greatly benefitted the candidates. Despite the global pandemic, this special track attracted considerable interest. A total of 8 candidates, comprising 4 local students and 4 foreign students, enrolled in the first intake.

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The school has also supplemented our marketing strategies with the use of WeChat and collaborative webinars. With support from the postgraduate marketing arm of the university, the LLM programme office reached out to interested students in China via the WeChat platform. Faculty members from the Yong Pung How School of Law and Fudan University Law School also held a series of webinars to showcase our lecture styles. Through these strategies, the school has seen an increase in the number of applicants from China.

Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (LLM, 2013) was elected as Member of Parliament in 2020

The Yong Pung How School of Law has also reached an exchange agreement with Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) to offer preferential admission to our respective postgraduate programmes to law graduates from each university. Some LLM graduates from this track have continued their studies with the Juris Doctor (JD) programme. As such, we have created a transfer pathway to enable an accelerated completion of the JD degree for these graduates.

Picture from PAP website

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PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

SMU LAW

ACADEMY

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS

SMU LAW ACADEMY

PRO BONO CENTRE

practitioners in Singapore. In addition, SMULA introduced the very well-received Primer Seminar Series, which offers seminars focusing on subjects which are essential for legal practice, and yet are difficult to pick up without having received a comprehensive foundation in law school. SMULA ran a primer seminar series on conflict of laws in October and November 2020, and will run a five-part primer seminar series on leading issues in law & technology from April to July 2021. Upcoming primer seminar series include sessions on the law of equity and trusts in May 2021, the Chinese legal system and culture in June 2021, and tax law in July 2021.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The SMU Yong Pung How School of Law continued its active engagement with the legal fraternity and the wider community in 2020. We are grateful to our donors and sponsors who generously contributed in 2020 to bursaries, study awards, prizes and scholarships for the benefit of our law students.

SMU LAW ACADEMY (SMULA) The Yong Pung How School of Law has had a continuing legal education programme accredited by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education since 2010. In 2018, SMULA was set up formally to consolidate these continuing legal education programmes within a single arm. Since its inception, SMULA has organised 142 seminars, delivering a continuing legal education experience for thousands of lawyers, in-house counsels, civil servants and others. Attendance for SMULA seminars has increased exponentially since its rebranding, with the most popular seminars attracting hundreds of attendees.

One example is the series of webinars SMULA organised from April to July 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, inviting prominent legal professionals including Mr V K Rajah SC and Mr Toby Landau QC to explore the implications of the pandemic on various areas of law, including contract law, insolvency, tax regulations, and legal technology. This webinar series attracted more than 500 participants in total. Net proceeds raised from the webinars were donated towards SMU’s efforts in supporting its law students whose families have been affected by COVID-19, as well as ongoing and future initiatives to help the wider community.

Building on its strong foundation as a trusted provider of high-quality continuing legal education seminars, SMULA embarked on its next phase of expansion in 2020. Up until 30 June 2020, Associate Professor Maartje De Visser led SMULA as part of her portfolio of Associate Dean (Postgraduate Teaching and Curriculum). Led by a new leadership team from 1 July 2020 comprising Associate Professor Darius Chan and Assistant Professor Kenny Chng as Director and Deputy Director respectively, and managed by Ms Esther Aiw and Ms Anne Teo, SMULA has moved up the value chain towards providing structured continuing legal education programs and certifications. These products are structured in close collaboration with industry partners, targeted at specific needs, and are skills-based going beyond black-letter law. Specifically, SMULA offered approximately 45% more programs and courses in 2020, as compared to 2019. Not only has the quantity of programmes increased, the scale of the programmes and courses has also increased through close collaboration with industry partners.

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Further, in partnership with the Singapore Judicial College (SJC), SMULA offered in November 2020 an intensive course on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, featuring a specially curated syllabus designed to provide judges and policy-making officials with foundational knowledge about key legal and regulatory issues around the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. The course attracted participants from the Singapore judiciary as well as judges from other ASEAN jurisdictions.

Looking ahead to 2021, SMULA is actively building more connections and developing more products that are targeted at specific industry needs. This includes SMULA Expert Masterclasses, the SMULA-Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA) Executive Course in Technology Law for In-House Lawyers, the SMULA-SJC Judicial Executive Programme, and the SMULA-Regall Advanced Certificate in Law Firm Management.

Professional

SMU LAW ACADEMY UNDERSTANDING THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

In September and October 2020, SMULA offered a Part A Examination Preparation Programme for the first time. Through this programme, SMULA sought to provide the legal profession with useful training to facilitate the qualification of candidates to the Singapore Bar, thereby enhancing the legal expertise of

Tan Ken Hwee

Warren Chik

Dorcas Quek

Marc Chia

Lim How Khang

Jerrold Soh

Chui Lijun

Yeo Tiong Min

Aurelio GurreaMartínez

Nydia Remolina

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Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

PRO BONO

CENTRE

legal consultation free of charge for financially disadvantaged persons on personal matters, without any citizenship or other restrictions. In 2020, the PBC continued to serve the community through its weekly free legal clinics. As a result of the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, the scope of legal consultation has expanded to business and commercial matters affected by COVID-19. The Legal Clinic has grown from a fortnightly service in September 2013 to a weekly service since February 2017. It served a total of 287, 291 and 259 applicants in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. During the circuit breaker period, the Legal Clinic continued to provide legal help to applicants through email instead of physical consultations. Students researched and drafted the email replies under supervision, which were then vetted by volunteer lawyers. The Legal Clinic resumed physical consultations in August 2020 in view of its high demand. Consistently high ratings have been given by persons who attended the Legal Clinic. More than 8 in 10 applicants are ‘very satisfied’ or ‘quite satisfied’ with the staff’s helpfulness and efficiency, the venue and operating hours of the Legal Clinic, and the length of session and helpfulness of the volunteer lawyer. More than 9 in 10 say that they would return to the Legal Clinic if they have new legal issues, and that they would recommend the Legal Clinic to others.

Notable Pro Bono Events

The PBC website was redesigned with self-help features such as allowing legal clinic applicants to register for appointments directly, and making Mandarin translations of information from the State Courts available.

students to come up with new ideas as well as to get them more involved in the pro bono scene. The winner of the competition - SMU Mediation and Negotiation Club - not only proposed but also worked with various organisations over many months to develop the processes for a Pro Bono Mediation Clinic which is planned to commence operation in 2021.

A dedicated website was created to provide legal information to the layman on COVID-19 regulations and support schemes via videos and FAQs. This website is a contribution by the faculty, alumni and students by pooling their collective expertise and legal knowledge.

Students conducted Law Awareness talks to students at Eunoia Junior College on human rights and constitutional liberties. The talk in February was held in person, but the talks in May were recorded and distributed via Youtube due to COVID-19 restrictions.

More than 50 students attended at least one of the 10 lessons on Basic Conversational Mandarin for Law students. This programme seeks to enable students to communicate with confidence in Mandarin so that they can be better lawyers in the future as well as to connect better with Mandarin speaking applicants during their pro bono placements.

The PBC hosted a free public webinar COVID-19 Challenges for Individuals, Families and Businesses, which featured Minister Edwin Tong SC, Mr Gregory Vijayendran SC, Professor Lee Pey Woan and Ms Jermaine Quek. The various speakers presented their perspectives on the impact of the pandemic on individuals and their families, and offered guidance on what we can do to not only survive but to thrive in the new environment.

Notable events in 2020 include:

The RHT Rajan Menon Foundation Pro Bono Challenge Competition was launched to tap on the creativity of

Pro Bono Work by Students

PRO BONO CENTRE (PBC) Led by Director Professor Chan Wing Cheong and Deputy Director Ms Ruby Lee, the mission of the Pro Bono Centre (PBC) is to instill a sense of social justice and nurture the spirit of pro bonos service among law students at the Yong Pung How School of Law. The vision of PBC is to help students see the practice of law as a vocation of service, to provide students with opportunities to apply what they have learnt to real life situations and to sensitise students to issues of social justice. Legal Clinic PBC’s main programme is to run a Helpdesk and Legal Clinic. The Helpdesk is open from 8.45 am to 5.45 pm every weekday where students assist members of the public in registering for the Legal Clinic. The Legal Clinic operates every Friday evening from 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm (except on public holidays and during the months of April and November). It offers face-to-face

56 / Shaping the Future of Law

The PBC has continued its strong tradition of making pro bono work an integral part of our students’ legal education. LLB students and JD students are required to complete at least 80 hours and 50 hours of community service respectively, of which at least 20 hours must consist of approved pro bono work. Our students regularly exceed these requirements. On average, each student has completed more than 40 hours of pro bono work. The JD class of 2020 contributed a whopping 68.9 pro bono hours per student. LLB student Ms Ong Jia Xin Abigail and JD student Ms Shim Eunkyung received the Spirit of Pro Bono Awards for contributing the most number of approved pro bono hours in 2020 (138.8 and 424.5 respectively). The PBC continues to be the primary provider of pro bono placements for SMU law students. Besides the PBC itself, students completed their pro bono placements at several other organisations, including the courts, the Community Justice Centre, Law Society Pro Bono Services, Legal Aid Bureau, Ministry of Law, community legal clinics at various CDCs, legal clinics run by community clubs, religious organisations and voluntary welfare organisations.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS Engagement with Schools In July 2020, Assistant Professor Benjamin Ong presented a sharing session on the Yong Pung How School of Law at the Virtual Singapore University Fair 2020 (organised by Hwa Chong Institution, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) and SJI International). In June and July 2020, sharing sessions on awareness of the law were variously presented to students at Dunman High School, SJI Senior School and Eunoia Junior College.

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STUDENTS & ALUMNI

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

STUDENT

CLUBS

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW & CRIMINAL JUSTICE CLUB (CCJC) In 2020, CCJC was involved in 2 events. First, CCJC hosted a taster session for the Political Processes and Constitutional Liberties module under Eunoia Junior College’s Programme LATITUDE. The members put together and delivered a presentation on Constitutional Law, covering topics ranging from constitutional liberties to constitutional principles unique to Singapore. The club was also able to adapt to the COVID-19 situation by uploading presentations as informative and engaging videos for students to watch.

SMU LAW SOCIETY (THE BAR) The SMU Law Society, fondly known as The Bar, is the representative body for law students. Under The Bar’s purview are 9 sub-clubs, with each providing students with opportunities to pursue more specific areas of interests.

From Left to Right: Ms Tesia Tan Qi Qing (Public Relations Director), Mr Lieu Kah Yen (Events Director), Mr Ryan Kay Leong (Finance Director), Mr Tan Jia Le (Vice-President), Ms Foo Hsien Li (Professional Development Director), Mr Lim Kay Kiat (Academic Development Director), Ms Cindy Chua Xin Yi (Marketing Director), Mr Richard Xu Hanqi (President), Mr Koh Zhi Jia (General Secretary).

The key events organised by the Bar include: The Bar organised an internship sharing session where Mr Darius Tay, alumnus of SMU Law, served as the Guest Speaker. He shared about his area of practice and provided valuable advice on excelling in law school. In light of the COVID-19 situation, The Bar decided to conduct a welfare drive to show its appreciation for the frontline healthcare workers. Welfare items included poke bowls and bubble tea. The Bar also reached out to our students to pen their thoughts on cards to express our thanks to the healthcare workers. The Bar organised its annual Law Camp through online means. Activities included sharing sessions from the seniors and our alumni, as well as quality bonding time amongst our freshmen. With these events, freshmen gleaned ideas on how to live well-rounded lives in law school, and made many new friends.

CCJC was involved in the CrimLaw Digests Programme, a project by the Criminal Practice Committee where members assisted the Law Society in summarising prominent criminal law cases. These summaries may be found on the Supreme Court website, serving as informative excerpts for the public.

Moving forward, CCJC plans to continue hosting talks and participate in The Recourse Initiative which is a collaborative effort with the SMU Law Outreach Club (SLOC) and the National University of Singapore, seeking to assist suitable individuals in re-opening their cases if they believe that they have been wrongfully convicted. CCJC will also be involved in the Mitigation Plea project, which is a collaboration with the Community Justice Centre to help offenders draft mitigation plea applications. Its members will work in groups, wherein each group is attached to an applicant for the entire mitigation process.

In our first welfare drive after the Circuit Breaker, The Bar took the opportunity to provide students with a limitededition laptop stand and flask. While The Bar could not host its usual welfare drive because of the COVID-19 situation, it wanted to support the students in their preparation for final exams, group projects and to help them cope whilst studying from home. The Bar organised its annual Bar Mentorship Programme to help freshmen find their footing in Law School. This year, for the very first time, The Bar also introduced its Law School Survival Guide to provide a more systematic introduction and handing-down of tips and tricks from seniors. The Bar organised a Training Contract Applications Sharing Session where Year 3 seniors were invited to share about their experiences applying for Training Contracts. Participants were also given the opportunity to engage in a question-and-answer session with the seniors. The Bar invited Mr Geraint Kang from Tan Kok Quan Partnership to conduct a Training Contract Workshop. The workshop covered aspects such as making a good first impression, writing cover letters, researching on the firm, ways to distinguish oneself, understanding firm culture and interview tips. The turnout was overwhelming, with more than 100 sign-ups. The Bar collaborated with Asia Bar Review to co-organise a legal career seminar on how to break into the Singapore, London and Hong Kong legal market. The speakers discussed tips on navigating the legal industry and the future outlook of the legal industry in 2021. Approximately 300 law students and legal practitioners participated in the virtual event.

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STUDENT

CLUBS

CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL LAW CLUB (COCO)

CLUBS

MOOT COURT CLUB (MCC) Established in 2007, the MCC is committed to increasing the awareness of mooting and promoting a strong mooting culture in the Yong Pung How School of Law; helping lower-year SMU law students acquire the basic skills of mooting for the purposes of Legal Research and Writing and local moot competitions; helping to organise and facilitate the running of local competitions; and working with the coaches in the International Moots electives to identify world-class moot talent for international moot competitions. The Howard Hunter Moot 2020 (23 August 2020) The 13th edition of the Howard Hunter Moot was held over the course of a month in 2020. The competition problem was centred on the issues of privacy and confidence amid increasing advancements in technology. The scenario involved a plaintiff who was a social media influencer who regularly uploaded content on a number of social media platforms. The defendant, a drone hobbyist, captured part of the plaintiff’s conversation with his friends while test-flying his drone. As the conversation involved the plaintiff’s controversial opinions regarding his followers, the defendant decided to upload the audio clip, which resulted in the loss of sponsors and revenue for the plaintiff. This raised the issues of whether the plaintiff could bring a claim under the Protection from Harassment Act or the tort of breach of confidence, and whether Singapore should recognise a tort of public disclosure of private facts.

CoCo, led by President Ms Poon Shuqi, and assisted by Vice-Presidents Ms Janice Jiang and Mr Li Zi Zheng, kickstarted 2020 with the Tiger Brewery Tour, hosted in collaboration with Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) (APB(S)). Through this incredible experience, the participants attended a meaningful sharing session by two in-house counsel at APB(S), Mr Adrian Tan and Mr Ong Bo Xian. In addition to their insights, SMU alumna and APB(S) Graduate Programme Trainee, Ms Faith Phang connected with the participants via video conferencing from the Netherlands. The participants gained a lot of insight and understanding about the advantages and disadvantages of going in-house, as compared to staying in practice. To end off the evening, the participants engaged in light-hearted conversation with each other and guests at Tiger Brewery’s bar. Over the summer break, CoCo collaborated with BlackOak LLC to plan its annual BlackOak Transactional Negotiation Competition. Pitting teams against each other, propelling them with the goal of negotiating in their clients’ best interests, the BlackOak Transactional Negotiation Competition is one that draws out the participants’ competitive spirits. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was moved online. Nevertheless, the organising team emerged triumphant, having planned a highly successful event despite the added challenge of hosting the competition online.

62 / Shaping the Future of Law

In the finals, the pair representing the respondent, comprising Ms Dawn Wee and Ms Elizabeth Wee, emerged as champions, with Ms Dawn Wee awarded the Best Speaker prize. Mr Ethan Lee & Ms Emelyn Aw took second place. The finals were judged by Justice Vincent Hoong (Presiding Judge of the State Courts and Supreme Court judge), Professor David Llewelyn (SMU), and Mr Danny Ong (Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP).

International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition 2020 (June 2020) The ICC Moot Court competition is the largest international criminal law moot in the world. The moot aims to allow participants to acquire in-depth knowledge of International Criminal Law and the organisation of the ICC, as well as familiarise themselves with other key institutions in the field of International Criminal Law, and lastly, to build a contact network with professors, practitioners and other competition participants. With the international rounds of the ICCMCC 2020 cancelled, many participants were disappointed and worried that their months of hard work might have been for nought. By organising the Asia-Pacific Friendly Rounds of the ICCMCC 2020, the club hoped to bridge this gap by facilitating meaningful legal discourse, albeit on an online platform. More importantly, the club wanted to provide an opportunity for mooters from the Asia-Pacific region to showcase and hone their mooting skills in a competitive setting. Annual Report 2020 / 63

Singapore Management University

Yong Pung How School of Law

STUDENT

CLUBS

LEGAL INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY (LIT) CLUB

SMU LAW SPORTS AND RECREATION CLUB (SPARC)

Previously known as SMU Law Athletes, the club was led in 2020 by Mr Bryan Tay (President) and Mr Tan Jiong Han (Vice President). The year’s highlight event, the Law Fraternity Games (LFG), started with a grand Opening Ceremony at the Maxwell Chambers. Organised by the Law Society of Singapore, it was a great opportunity for the members of the club to interact with the lawyers and fellow sport enthusiasts from NUS Faculty of Law over cocktails and food. The actual LFG which occurred a week later, saw students from both law schools and lawyers competing in a variety of sports such as basketball, touch rugby, volleyball and football. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lack of physical events, the SMU Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Club had an eventful 2020. The pandemic highlighted the important role that technology plays in our daily lives as seen by the shift towards more virtual events. Led by Mr Shjoneman Tan (President) and Mr Victor Tang (Vice-President), SMU LIT started the year off with our first event, Crashcourse: Legal Tech, where the club invited 3 distinguished speakers to share their insights on the ever-growing role that technology plays in the legal industry. We invited Mr Josh Lee (Chairperson, Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation & Technology Association and Co-Founder, LawTech.Asia), Mr Rajesh Sreenivasan (Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore and Director, R&TT) and Mr Tan Ken Hwee (Chief Transformation & Innovation Officer, Supreme Court of Singapore) to share their vision and insights on how legal practice is taking meaningful strides towards change in light of technology.

The LIT Newsletter was a new initiative introduced during the circuit-breaker period, in order to keep our fellow SMU students engaged and informed whilst we were stuck at home. The newsletter was a way for us to share snapshots of the trends, issues and voices surrounding law and technology with our fellow learned peers and this is an initiative that we aim to continue in the years to come. SMU LIT, in conjunction with SMU Artificial Intelligence Club, hosted Assistant Professor Jerrold Soh, Mr Chang Zi Qian (Co-founder at Intelllex) and Mr Justin Chan (Associate Director at LVM Law Chambers LLC) for an online webinar on legal technology with Mr Ding Yao Wan as the moderator. During the webinar, the speakers shared their views on the effect of legal technology on legal practice and the nature of legal work. They also encouraged law students to keep abreast with legal tech developments on top of maintaining their legal competencies. 64 / Shaping the Future of Law

SPARC also returned with the collaboration with SMU Golf to introduce the sport of golf to students via a workshop. The club also collaborated with the Bar to organise SOL Sweat 2020 during the virtual law camp. This virtual workout programme provided two online workout sessions for freshmen, together with other students, staff and faculty. Both sessions saw good turnout and participation by enthusiastic freshmen and current students who turned up virtually and sweated it out despite their busy schedules.

The session ended with a live demonstration of Intelllex by co-founder Mr Chang Zi Qian, where participants witnessed how Intelllex increases productivity for lawyers. In 2020, most of the LIT members were part of the first AsiaPacific Legal Innovation & Technology Association (ALITA) Secretariat which provided assistance in the development of legal technology in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, LIT helped to organise TechLaw.Fest 2020 which was a fully virtual conference featuring more than 120 international speakers across 5 days, discussing all things related to law and technology. LIT was also involved in developing the ALITA Legal Tech Observatory which will be the first real-time database of legal tech players and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, LIT helped to develop the Legal Innovation Strategy Toolkit (LIST) which seeks to help jurisdictions develop legal innovation strategies and roadmans of their own to create enabling environments for legal innovation. LIT worked with ALITA in drafting the State of Legal Innovation in the Asia-Pacific Report (SOLIA) 2020, which aims to give readers actionable insights on the state of legal innovation in over 10 jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific, along with case studies from regional law firms. Finally, LIT was involved in the third run of the Associate Authorship Programme, which aims to develop the knowledge and exposure of student writers in the domains of law and technology, while providing them with mentorship for LawTech. Asia’s and industry professionals. In 2020, an article by Mr Samuel Chan and reviewed by Associate Professor Saw Cheng Lim examined the future of artificial general intelligence and intellectual property rights.

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STUDENT

CLUBS

SMU LAW OUTREACH CLUB (SLOC)

SMU LAW INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CLUB (IRC) Led by Ms Jaslyn Lee (President) and Ms Melanie Koh (VicePresident), IRC’s primary focus is to ensure that overseas exchange students in the Yong Pung How School of Law feel at home. The club also provides them with the resources they need to have a fulfilling experience throughout their time here.

Inaugurated in 2013, SMU Law Outreach Club (SLOC) aims to become the leading centre of excellence for legal community service projects for all students of the Yong Pung How School of Law. In 2020, SLOC had a fulfilling and enriching year under the leadership of Ms Amanda Chia Shue Qi (President), Mr Darius Tan (Vice President), and Mr Keith Toh Ian Ray (Vice President) despite facing challenges due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nonetheless, SLOC thought out of the box to bring their projects and initiatives online. SLOC started the year with the annual Moot Parliament Programme (MPP), which is a full-fledged special enrichment programme for secondary students. With support from legal professionals who volunteer as expert mentors, as well as law students from SMU and NUS volunteering as student mentors, MPP is in its 15th year running. From January to September 2020, SLOC assisted the Ministry of Education in educating secondary school students on the Singapore Parliamentary system and the legislative process. Student mentors from SMU volunteered to be the bridge of communication between the expert mentors and the participating students, and guided teams with drafting bills.

In addition, SLOC is proud to have coordinated the following events and programmes in 2020: SLOC organised their annual Law on Life talk on Zoom. This year, the theme was Doing Good with a Law Degree. SLOC invited esteemed speakers Mr Amolat Singh (Veteran lawyer), Ms Angelina Hing (lawyer, founder and Managing Director of Integro Law Chambers LLC), and Professor Chan Wing Cheong (Director of the Pro Bono Centre) to share their thoughts on how to positively impact our society as a lawyer, and their lives beyond their career. SLOC’s Law for All Community Project usually involves large-scale talks with organisations and caseworkers. In light of the pandemic, SLOC replaced the annual talks with sending out electronic brochures to organisations as well as posting relevant information on the Pro Bono Centre website to assist the general public. SLOC’s SMU Freshmen Outreach moved online in 2020. In doing so, SLOC revised their annual orientation programme to bring incoming freshmen a whole afternoon

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As hosts of these exchange students, IRC organises welcome gatherings where exchange students are able to meet one another, as well as their SMU local counterparts. Notably, IRC also hosted law undergraduates and professors from the Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia and gave them a customary tour of the school facilities.

This year on Zoom, MPP opened with the MPP Symposium. Student mentors were invited to present on topics related to law to give the participants an idea of possible directions for their bills. Besides structured mentor-participant sessions, the MPP Bill Writing Workshop equipped participants with relevant legal knowledge. The programme concluded with Moot Parliamentary Debates, where students experienced and learnt how to debate their proposed draft bills, just like real Members of Parliament. of fun through the screen. SLOC carried out educational talks, games, and bonding activities to facilitate their integration into the school. They also invited the freshmen to join SLOC’s initiative of sending heartfelt messages to elderly at nursing homes to cheer them up during the pandemic. SLOC worked together with the SMU Constitutional Law & Criminal Justice Club to carry out The Recourse Initiative, which assists convicts who feel that they have been wrongly convicted of their crimes. Their team discussed cases with Professors, researched on leads, interviewed the applicant in prison, and wrote recommendations on how cases should be handled. Last but not least, SLOC started the Guardians of SLOC series on Instagram (@smulawoutreach). Post by post, SLOC introduces the backbone of our school to the student population, such as the janitors, security guards, as well as other staff who help make the school a happy, functioning place for everyone.

Due to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, IRC’s activities with foreign counterparts came to a halt when travel restrictions kicked in. Nevertheless, IRC continued to run events, including hosting a virtual sharing session by Professor Vicki Beyer (Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Law)

to share her insights on former Nissan’s head Mr Carlos Ghosn and the life of a law student in Tokyo. While IRC was unable to continue with the tradition of hosting a farewell gathering for the exchange students in 2020, IRC looks forward to finding new and innovative ways to connect local students with those abroad.

LEXICON: AN SMU LAW STUDENT PUBLICATION Under the stewardship of Mr Soh Kian Peng and Mr Chai Wen Min, Lexicon took the first step of conceptualising and publishing the inaugural edition of the Singapore Law Journal. An entirely student-run endeavour, the Journal contains a modest selection of case briefs from our Supreme Court Initiative, as well as other articles and case notes. The Journal will be published on an annual basis at the start of every calendar year, and will be available in both print and digital formats. In addition, Lexicon has published close to 38 Supreme Court case briefs as well as 74 other articles and/or case notes. 2020 has been its strongest showing yet, with over 39 posts being published for a total of 28,173 views.

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NOTABLE

STUDENT EVENTS

LAW AS A CALLING

WELCOMING THE FRESHMEN

The school kickstarted the first event of 2020 by hosting Mr Chua Chin Kiat, former Director of Prisons and recipient of the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2005.

The school held a Welcome Session for freshmen on 20 August 2020. Professor Goh Yihan SC, welcomed the students. Associate Professor Low Kee Yang, Associate Professor Alvin See, Assistant Professor Kenny Chng and Assistant Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson shared their experiences on how to make the best out of their time in school.

Mr Chua shared with our students about Singapore’s prison reform journey from 1998 to 2006. Having taken over the prisons at a time of high recidivism rate and difficulty in staff recruitment, Mr Chua provided insights and engaged our students on how to drive organisational change through a new vision of returning prisoners to society as responsible citizens.

Lastly, Associate Professor Chen Siyuan shared a moot demonstration and explained the intricacies of forming good reasoning and arguments, aimed at putting students in good stead for both oral and written presentations.

This series of talks provides students with the opportunity to be inspired by persons who have persevered in doing good using their legal training. Students are encouraged to think about the role of law and the profession within the broader society and to see the human side of the law. This series is fully sponsored by the faculty members of the Yong Pung How School of Law for the purpose of educating students to view law not just as a practice, but as a calling.

CELEBRATING THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2020

GET TO KNOW PRACTICE SEMINARS On 28 August 2020, the school and ANSA Search jointly organised a webinar titled 21st Century Lawyering: How New Lawyers Can Thrive in Modern Day Private Practice for law students and lawyers. The panellists — Mr Edward Laird (Simmons & Simmons), Ms Lynn Soh (Eng and Co LLC), Ms Maurice Rabb (Baker McKenzie) and Ms Tan Shulin (ANSA Search) — shared their insights on what employers look for when hiring, what skills new lawyers should strive to acquire, and other practical advice when starting out in private legal practice.

Due to the pandemic, SMU was unable to hold a physical commencement in 2020, resulting in the celebrations going online. Congratulations to Mr Ian Mah Hao Ran on winning the University Valedictorian award, the Kwa Geok Choo Top Law Student Award and the SMU CIRCLE Award; to Mr Gerome Goh on being awarded the School Valedictorian award; and to Ms Rennie Whang on winning the Wee Chong Jin Prize for the Most Outstanding JD Graduate. To celebrate the Graduating Class of 2020, the school prepared the following surprise video for the Class of 2020. View Video here: https://www.facebook.com/smusol/posts/2667285820216085.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO VIEW VIDEO IF IT DOES NOT RUN AUTOMATICALLY

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On 11 September 2020, the school co-organised a webinar with the Singapore Maritime Foundation on Why Maritime Law? Mr Prem Gurbani, Mr Jaya Prakash and Mr Nicholas Fell provided general insights on the maritime industry, various aspects of maritime law and the many opportunities that await within the maritime industry.

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STUDENT

ACHIEVEMENTS

MOOT COMPETITIONS

MEDIATION AND NEGOTIATION COMPETITIONS

SMU’s international mooters started 2020 well, winning the international championship final against the University of Oxford in the Price Moot (members: Ms Jodi Siah, Mr Terence Yeo, Mr Allen Chong Wei Xuan, Ms Tan Yoong San, Mr Pethuel Ho, Ms Naomi Lim) after winning its maiden regional championship. This was SMU’s 4th win in this Grand Slam, extending our tournament record. SMU also extended its tournament record in the Fletcher International Insolvency Moot when it won its second championship in London (members: Mr Arushee Bhatnagar, Ms Samantha Lim, Ms Ng Wei Qi, Ms Tan Jia Yi), taking home prizes for written and oral advocacy as well. The winning streak continued in Melbourne when SMU won the CIArb Australia Vis Moot (members: Jayakumar Suryanarayanan, Lushna Godhia, Aidan Goh), before the full force of the pandemic hit and many moots were either cancelled or migrated to online platforms. Even with the migration, SMU excelled, placing 3rd in the Vis East (members: Mr Jayakumar Suryanarayanan, Ms Lushna Godhia, Mr Aidan Goh, Mr Hudson Wong) – its fifth podium finish in this Grand Slam – reaching the championship final in our PAX Moot debut (members: Ms Rennie Whang, Mr Huo Jiongrui, Ms Marissa de Cruz), and winning a tournament record 11 Honourable Mentions for both Vis moots combined. For moots that cancelled the oral rounds but still gave out prizes for written submissions, SMU won a litany of prizes, notably coming in 1st for the Sarin Air Law Moot (members:

Ms Nicole Ng, Mr Joel Fun, Ms Kit Ng), 2 for the International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot (members: Ms Chang Wen Yee, Ms Zhang Yuqian, Mr Robbie Tan, Mr Joel Soon, Mr Darren Chia, Mr Nicholas Tan), and 2nd for the Red Cross Moot (members: Mr Huo Jiongrui, Ms Rennie Whang, Ms Marissa de Cruz). SMU also hosted a regional friendly for the International Criminal Court Moot, and won all six matches (members: Ms Liyana bte Kamaludin, Mr Louis Lau Yi Hang, Mr Andrew Chia, Mr Sidharrth Rajagopal, Ms Jeanne Goh, Ms Chan Jia Fen). nd

By the second half of 2020, all moots had migrated online, and SMU continued with a good run of results, beginning with the capturing of its 5th LAWASIA championship, extending its tournament record in the process (members: Ms Carrisa Low, Mr Shawn Ang, Mr Li Zizheng). It then successfully defended its Price regional championship (members: Ms Chang Wen Yee, Mr Louis Lau Yi Hang, Mr Brian Wong, Ms Victoria Liu, Mr Joel Soon, Mr Ng Xuan Zhen) and won its first Stetson regional championship (members: Mr Aaron Tan, Mr Lieu Kah Yen, Mr Tan Jia Le). With the Moot Court and various other facilities configured with state-of-the-art videoconferencing technology, SMU mooters will be making a strong push to reach the milestone of 100 podium finishes in international moots to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the International Moots Programme.

Mr Benedict Koh Yen Hin, Ms Chye Shu Li, Ms Seow Ling Ern and Ms Sim Wei Qing emerged as champions of Moot Shanghai 2020 (Special Edition).This year’s traditional moot was hosted as a virtual mediation competition, held in conjunction with UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day on 9 and 10 October. Ms Kimberly and Ms Shu Li also received the special awards of Best Oralist and Second Best Oralist respectively. The team also clinched first runner-up in the ADC-ICC Asia Pacific Commercial Mediation Competition. The team was coached by alumnus Mr Dhiraj Chainani.

Ms Chye Shu Li, Ms Michelle Cheong Shi Yun, Ms Sambhavi Rajangam and Mr Foo Chuan He advanced to the quarter-finals in the Asian Law Students’ Association International Mediation Competition, and were ranked 4th out of 29 teams in the preliminary rounds. Mr Alden Tan Ek Kai, Mr Mohamed Shafie Bin Allameen and Ms Winie Ao Wei An and Ms Lu Huiyi were jointly awarded the Best Mediation Plan prize.

Mr Foo Chuan He, Ms Michelle Cheong and Ms Sambhavi Rajangam entered the quarterfinals of the VMSCL International Dispute Resolution Competition (Lex Infinitum). The team was ranked 9th out of 24 teams in the Yong Pung How School of Law’s debut in this mediation and negotiation competition.

160+

30+

Top-3 finishes in international moots between 2011-2020

Prizes and best memos between 2011-2020

Top-3 finishes in Grand Slam Moots between 2011-2020

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Singapore Management University

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STUDENT

ALUMNI

ACHIEVEMENTS

OTHER STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

The achievement of our graduates is the best testament to the quality of the education we provide. Our graduates are highly sought after, having close to full employment soon after graduation. Based on the 2020 Graduate Employment Survey published by the Ministry of Education in 2021, our fresh graduates enjoyed an overall employment rate of up to 95.5%. Graduates with cum laude and above earned a mean monthly salary of $5,141. This is a testament to the quality of our graduates and shows that our education approach fits market demands.

Legal Kaki, a team consisting of LLB students Ms Nur Shukrina Binte Abdul Salam and Ms Sambhavi Rajangam, Economics student Ms Joey Chung, and Information Systems student Mr Abhyuday Samadder, collaborated with the Singapore Academy of Law to design access to justice solutions for employment disputes. Their proposal was awarded the second runner-up position in the SMU Legal Innovation and Technology Club’s hackathon in 2019. CalculAID (https://calculaid.sal. sg), a salary calculator to assist migrant workers in their salary claims, was launched by the SIngapore Academy of Law on 1 October 2020. The software also sets out the steps to be taken when making a salary claim. Mindful of the language barrier, CalculAID is accessible in different languages, particularly those spoken by migrant workers. The team is also exploring how CalculAID may be adapted to cater to employees engaged in shift work and less conventional working arrangements.

2020 GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT SURVEY

95.5% Overall Employment Rate

5,141

Mean Gross Monthly Salary

For more information on our alumni’s achievements, see our most recent Alumni Newsletter.

A good indicator of our alumni’s impact in the industry has been their steady rise through the ranks in both private practice and the business world. Many of them have gone on to make their mark in the profession, industry and academia. Some have even struck out on their own to establish their own private practices and legal technology start-ups. Our alumni’s achievements in 2020 include the following: Agnes Lim (LLB, 2013) was appointed Partner at Shook Lin & Bok. Benjamin Teo (LLB, 2011) and Josephine Chee (LLB, 2012) were appointed Partners at Rajah & Tann Singapore. Chan Wei Ling (JD, 2019) was conferred the highest accreditation by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI): SIMI Certified Mediator.

Mr Justin Tang led his peers in supporting the SMU Pro Bono Centre’s COVID-19 portal for members of the public to learn more about legal issues arising from the pandemic. Together with his sister and fellow undergraduate Ms Jeanette Tang, the group distilled various sources of information – such as ministerial speeches and news articles – into digestible pieces of content. Their efforts were featured by the Ministry of Law.

Daniel Ho (LLB, 2017) and Dennis Saw (JD, 2017) won the 2020 Essex Court Chambers Singapore Academy of Law International Mooting Competition. The other finalists were Alexander Lee (LLB, 2018) and Shriram Jayakumar (LLB, 2018). Shriram was named best Oralist. Jill Ann Koh (LLB, 2012), Soong Wen E (LLB, 2012), Stephanie Yeo (LLB, 2012) and Vithiya Rajendra (LLB & BBM, 2012) were appointed Partners at WongPartnership LLP. Debbie Lim (LLB, 2013) founded Millennium Law LLC and is currently its Director. Gerome Goh (LLB, 2020), Ian Mah (LLB, 2020), Ivan Khoo (JD, 2019), Keziah Simon (LLB, 2020), Nicole Ng (LLB, 2020) and Rennie Whang (JD, 2020) were admitted into the prestigious Justices’ Law Clerk programme. Josh Lee (LLB, 2015), chairperson of the AsiaPacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA), led ALITA to several achievements, including the establishment of the world’s first Legal Tech Observatory as well as the publication of the ‘2020 State of Legal Innovation in Asia-Pacific Report’ and Asia’s first Legal Innovation Strategy Toolkit. Julian Ho (LLB, 2012) was appointed Counsel at Allen & Gledhill. Lau Wen Jin (LLB, 2012), Lee Chia Ming (LLB, 2013) and Tan Ying Ni (JD, 2011) were appointed Partners at Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP. Loh Chun Kiat (LLB, 2011) was featured in Asia Legal Business’ 40 under 40 for 2020. Luo Ling Ling (LLM, 2013) set up her own law firm, Luo Ling Ling LLC. Lyndon Choo (LLB, 2018) was joint winner of the YSIAC Writing Competition 2020. Marcus Liu (LLB, 2012) was appointed Associate Director at Amica Law. Michael Kwan (BSc (Econ), 2009 & JD, 2013) was appointed Associate Director at Drew & Napier.

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ALUMNI

ACHIEVEMENTS

Mark Lee (LLB, 2012), co-founder and Joint Managing Director of WHM Law Corporation, was selected as a finalist for the Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the 15th Asian Legal Business South East Asia Law Awards. Nadja Ahmad Samdin (LLB, 2013) was elected as Member of Parliament. Niklas Wong (LLB, 2014) was appointed Associate Director at TSMP Law Corporation.

Sheryn Tan (LLB, 2013) and Wee Shilei (LLB, 2013) were appointed Associate Directors at Quahe Woo & Palmer. Sui Yi Siong (LLB, 2014) won the Joseph Grimberg Outstanding Young Advocate Award. The award “recognizes young lawyers in good standing who exhibit professional excellence, service to the profession and the bar [and] service to the community”. Tan Ruo Yu (LLB, 2013) was appointed Director at Davinder Singh Chambers. Victor Looi (LLB, 2012) was the youngest lawyer recognised by Singapore Business Review as one of Singapore’s most influential lawyers aged 40 and under in 2020. Loh Chun Kiat (LLB, 2011), Nadia Ahmad Samdin (LLB, 2013) was elected as Member of Parliament and Niklas Wong (LLB, 2014) were also recognised in this list.

Keziah Simon

Gerome Goh

Rennie Whang

Ivan Khoo

Nadia Ahmad Samdin*

Loh Chun Kiat

Nicole Ng

Sui Yi Siong

Chan Wei Ling

Publications of our alumni in 2020 include: Dominic Liew Jr (LLB, 2018), ‘Finding Clarity Amidst Confusion: Cleaning up the Clean Hands Doctrine in International Investment Law’ (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 643 Gerome Goh (LLB, 2020) ‘An Arbitral Tribunal’s Dilemma: The Plea of Financially Impecunious Parties’ (2020) 37(4) Journal of International Arbitration 479 Gerome Goh (LLB, 2020), ‘Opening the Door to Fickle-Minded Guilty Pleas? - PP v Dinesh s/o Rajantheran’ [2020] Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 756 Ian Mah (LLB, 2020), ‘Revisiting the Presumptions of Resulting Trust and Advancement in the Context of Joint Tenanted Matrimonial Property’ (2020) 28(2) Australian Property Law Journal 59 Ian Mah (LLB, 2020) and Aaron Cheuk (LLB, 2021), ‘Dispute Settlement System Under Attack: A Move Away from Multilateralism’ (2020) 12 Indian Journal of International Economic Law 153 Low Yan Lin (LLB, 2020), ‘International Regulations on Artificial Intelligence in the Military: Adequate or Outdated?’ (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 720 Nicole Ng (LLB, 2020), ‘Illegally Obtained Evidence in International Arbitration: Protecting the Integrity of the Arbitral Process’ (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 747 Rennie Whang (JD, 2020), ‘The Doctrine of Wilful Blindness in Drug Offences: Adili Chibuike Ejike v Public Prosecutor’ (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 305

* Picture from PAP website

Rennie Whang (JD, 2020), ‘The Tainting Doctrine in Singapore Conflict of Laws’ [2020] Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 726 Terence Lerh Guan Wei (LLB, 2020), ‘Mediation Confidentiality: Authentic or Delusory?’ (2020) 5 Contemporary Issues in Mediation Terence Yeo (LLB, 2020), ‘The Hague Judgments Convention: A View from Singapore’ (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 1153 Terence Yeo (LLB, 2020), ‘Assessing Potential Liability Regimes for Autonomous Vehicle Technologies in Singapore’ (2020) 27(3) Tort Law Review 172 Terence Yeo (LLB, 2020) and Victoria Liu (LLB, 2021), ‘To Good Purpose: Non-Charitable Purpose Trusts for the Specific Purpose of Holding Shares in Perpetuity in Singapore’ (2020) 26(7) Trusts and Trustees 646

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ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENTS

Ian Mah

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