The Former Supreme Court Building (, ) is the former

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

of the

Supreme Court of Singapore The Supreme Court of Singapore is a set of courts in Singapore, comprising the Court of Appeal and the High Court. It hears both civil and criminal matters. The Court of Appeal hears both civil and criminal appeals from the High Court. The C ...

. The court moved to a new building, where it began operations on 20 June 2005. Opened in 1939, former courthouse was the last structure built in the style of

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

in the former British colony. Together with the Former City Hall, the former courthouse has been converted for use as

National Gallery Singapore , logo = National_Gallery_Singapore_logo.svg , image = Interior_of_the_National_Gallery_Singapore.jpg , caption = Interior of the National Gallery of Singapore with the airy corridors on 4 levels, the staircases a ...

; the complex opened in 2015.

History

On 1 April 1937, Sir Shenton Whitelegge Thomas, Governor of the Straits Settlements laid the original

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

of the Supreme Court Building. (At the time it was the largest foundation stone in the whole of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

.) Buried beneath the stone is a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

containing six Singaporean newspapers dated 31 March 1937, and a handful of coins of the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

. The capsule is not due to be retrieved until the year 3000. The Supreme Court building was declared open on 3 August 1939 by Sir

Shenton Thomas Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas (10 October 1879 – 15 January 1962) was a British colonial administrator, best remembered as the Governor of the Straits Settlements at the time of the Japanese invasion during the Second World War. Bo ...

and handed over to the Chief Justice, Sir

Percy McElwaine Sir Percy Alexander McElwaine KC (21 September 1884 – 24 October 1969) was a lawyer and judge who served, ''inter alia'', as Attorney General of Fiji and Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. Early life McElwaine was born in Roscommon, I ...

, on the same day. In 1946, after World War II, the building was the site of war crime trials of members of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

for actions in Singapore during the war. After the court moved to a new building, the Former Supreme Court Building, together with the adjacent Former City Hall, was converted into use as the

, which opened in 2015.

Architecture and design

AllegoryofJustice-OldSupremeCourtBuilding-Singapore-20071013

The Former Singapore Supreme Court building was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward and built by United Engineers. It was built in front of the

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

grounds between 1937 and 1939.

Notes

*.
History of Supreme Court

References

{{Authority control National monuments of Singapore Tourist attractions in Singapore Government buildings completed in 1939 Downtown Core (Singapore) Courthouses in Singapore 20th-century architecture in Singapore

History

Architecture and design

See also

Notes

References