Joseph Grimberg, SC was a Singaporean prominent lawyer and former Supreme Court judge.

Legal career

After completing his education and studies in law, Grimberg joined

Drew & Napier Drew & Napier LLC is one of Singapore’s leading law firms. Founded in 1889, the firm has more than 500 employees. It is regarded as one of the “Big Four” law firms in Singapore. Drew & Napier regularly advises governments, government in ...

when he was called to the Singapore Bar in 1957. He was a senior partner at the law firm from 1967 to 1987, when he was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court in 1987. During his time as Judicial Commissioner, one of the cases which Grimberg presided was the 1984

Amex banker murder case On the night of 24 October 1984, a 39-year-old American Express banker, Tan Tik Siah, otherwise known as Frankie Tan, was ambushed and attacked by four men as he arrived home from work in Singapore. He was strangled to death by his assailants ...

, where a banker named Frankie Tan was murdered by his foster brother Vasavan Sathiadew and three hired Thai killers, as planned by Tan's wife to avenge his frequent infidelity and spousal abuse. Except for one Thai killer (who escaped Singapore and went missing till today), the rest of the five were arrested and charged with

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. After a trial lasting 45 days, Grimberg, together with High Court judge

T. S. Sinnathuray Thirugnana Sampanthar Sinnathuray (22 September 1930 – 18 January 2016),. known professionally as T. S. Sinnathuray and to his friends as Sam Sinnathuray,. was a judge of the High Court of Singapore. Educated at University College London an ...

, found three of the four killers (the fourth was found guilty of manslaughter instead) guilty of murder and sentenced them to death by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

on 6 October 1989. Sinnathuray and Grimberg's verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal, resulting in the three killers being executed in October 1992. Grimberg was also one of the two judges (the other being

Lai Kew Chai Lai Kew Chai (; 7 February 1941 – 27 February 2006) was a Malaysian-born Singaporean judge and the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court Bench, having served for almost 25 years as a Judge. Biography Early life and education Born in Ta ...

) who sentenced Sim Ah Cheoh, a housewife and single mother of two sons, and her two bosses - Lim Joo Yin and Ronald Tan Chong Ngee - to death in 1988 for attempting to illegally import 1.37 kg of heroin from Singapore to the USA. Sim was later granted clemency and her

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

was commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

in 1992, while both Lim and Tan were executed. In 1989, he re-joined Drew & Napier as a consultant. In 1997, Grimberg became one of the first lawyers in Singapore to be appointed

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

Death

Grimberg died on 17 August 2017, at the age of 84.

Legacy

Several awards have been named after Grimberg, such as

SMU School of Law The Yong Pung How School of Law is one of the six schools of Singapore Management University. It was set up as Singapore's second law school in 2007, 50 years after the NUS Faculty of Law and 10 years before SUSS School of Law. Before becoming ...

's Top Advocate prizes and the

Singapore Academy of Law The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) is a statutory body in Singapore. SAL is a promotion and development agency for Singapore's legal industry. SAL also undertakes statutory functions such as stakeholding services and the appointment of Senior C ...

's Outstanding Young Advocate prize.

References

1933 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Singaporean judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Singapore Singaporean Senior Counsel {{legal-stub