Chao Hick Tin (born 27 September 1942) is a former appellate judge in the

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

and former

Attorney-General of Singapore The attorney-general of Singapore is the public prosecutor of Singapore, and legal adviser to the Government of Singapore. The functions of the attorney-general are carried out with the assistance of the deputy attorney-general and the soli ...

Early life

Chao was born in Singapore and studied at

Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

. He received his legal education at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he obtained his Bachelor and Masters of Law degrees in 1965 and 1966 respectively.

Career

Chao was called to the Bar as a barrister of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in 1965. In 1967, he joined the Attorney-General's Chambers, Singapore where he rose to become a Senior State Counsel in 1979. Chao was appointed the Head of the Civil Division in the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1982 and held that post until his elevation to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

bench on 1 October 1987 as Judicial Commissioner. His elevation to the position of a Judge of the Supreme Court followed on 15 November 1990. On 2 August 1999, he was appointed a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court. On 11 April 2006 he stepped down from the court to become

. He ceased to be Attorney-General and was reappointed a Judge of Appeal every two years since 11 April 2008, and shortly thereafter was appointed vice-president of the Court of Appeal, until he retired the day before his 75th birthday on 27 September 2017. On 5 Jan 2018, Chao was appointed senior judge of the Supreme Court for three years, followed by another two-year term commencing 5 January 2021. In the National Day Awards of 2008, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (

Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang The Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang ( en, Distinguished Service Order) is a Singaporean national honour instituted in 1968. It was created to replace the ''Pingat Bakti Chemerlang'' ( en, Distinguished Service Medal) and is awarded to any person w ...

) for his special contributions to the Pedra Branca dispute case. Chao is also one of the founding members of the ASEAN Law Association. He was also the first Commander of the

Volunteer Special Constabulary The Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) in Singapore comprises volunteers from the general public. VSC officers are imbued with equal powers of a regular police officer to enforce law and order in Singapore. They wear the same police uniform as p ...

, holding the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. Chao later stepped down as Senior Judge on 2 June 2022. Throughout his tenure as a judge, Chao was known to be the judge presiding over several landmark cases, including the 2015 landmark ruling of Kho Jabing, a former death row inmate who was sentenced 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 fo ...

and 24 strokes of the cane in a re-trial for the 2008 murder of construction worker Cao Ruyin, after the legal reforms allowed judges to have the power to sentence those convicted of murder with no intention to kill to life in prison or death. Chao and four other judges heard the case, and Chao was one of the three judges who, based on the majority decision, elected to sentence Kho to death a second time based on the brutality of the crime and blatant disregard for human life. This ruling also coined the main sentencing guidelines for murder under the new death penalty laws of Singapore. Kho was later executed on 20 May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chao, Hick Tin Singaporean people of Chinese descent 1957 births Living people Attorneys-General of Singapore Singaporean Judges of Appeal 20th-century Singaporean judges Singaporean Senior Counsel Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of University College London Catholic High School, Singapore alumni Recipients of the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang Judges of the Supreme Court of Singapore 21st-century Singaporean judges