Senior district judge Valerie Thean to oversee new family justice system

SINGAPORE — The task of overseeing the new family justice system here — one that resolves disputes more efficiently and less acrimoniously — will fall on senior district judge Valerie Thean, who will be appointed as a judicial commissioner at the end of the month.

Besides Ms Thean, who will be made Presiding Judge of the Family Courts from Nov 1, three others will be elevated to the High Court bench as judicial commissioners, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement yesterday.

Two of them are from the Attorney-General’s Chambers: Ms Hoo Sheau Peng, Deputy Chief Counsel (Advisory and Administration) of its Civil Division; and Senior Counsel Aedit Abdullah, its Chief Prosecutor. The trio’s terms are for three years.

The other is National University of Singapore law don Debbie Ong Siew Ling, whose term is for two years.

Ms Thean, who joined the public sector legal service in 1992, has held previous appointments such as the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Law, while Associate Professor Ong is an expert in family law.

Ms Hoo and Mr Aedit have both served stints as district judges in the then-Subordinate Courts.

With their appointments, the Supreme Court will have a total of 14 judges, including the Chief Justice, and eight judicial commissioners.