Eugene Thuraisingam
Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam is a Singaporean lawyer who founded the law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, which specialises in international arbitration and criminal and commercial litigation. He is also known for his advocacy of human rightsand for being a staunch opponent and outspoken critic of the death penalty in Singapore. As a prominent criminal lawyer in Singapore he has acted for accused persons in many high profile criminal trials.
He is currently acting for an oil exploration company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against a middle eastern state-owned company. The dispute involves claims of over USD 126 million and concerns petroleum operations in the South-East Asia.
He is also acting for an Indonesian client in an SIAC arbitration arising out of a contractual dispute with the private equity arm of a major international bank incorporated in Hong Kong. The value of the claim is over USD 128 million.
In 2016, Thuraisingam defended Roy Ngerng, a blogger who was sued for defamation by Lee Hsien Loong, who is the Prime Minister of Singapore. He also acted for activist and social worker Jolovan Wham and Donald Liew when they were sent letters of demand in relation to comments made by them which were allegedly defamatory of Singapore's Minister of Manpower, Mrs Josephine Teo. In 2016 and 2017, he represented The Online Citizen, an independent online media platform, in successfully protecting its right to free speech against the Singaporean government. He is now representing The Online Citizen and the Singapore Democratic Party in the Singapore Court of Appeal on the issue of whether or not the Singapore government bears the burden of proof in proving that a statement is false when it issues a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. He also acts in a constitutional law case against the Attorney-General of Singapore in the Singapore Court of Appeal challenging the constitutionality of the law in Singapore which criminalises sex between men. Thuraisingam is acting for the animal rights group Exclusively Mongrels in suing a dog owner for euthanizing his pet dog, which was adopted from Exclusively Mongrels.
Education
Thuraisingam attended Anglo-Chinese School and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore, where he was placed on the Dean's List in his final year of study.Career
After he was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 2001, Thuraisingam practised law at Allen & Gledhill for nine years and at Stamford Law Corporation for another three years before he founded the law firm, Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, in 2012.Anti-death penalty poem
In 2017, Thuraisingam was brought to court by Lucien Wong, the Attorney-General, for allegedly scandalising the judiciary when he wrote a poem critical of the death penalty hours before the execution of drug trafficker Muhammad Ridzuan Md Ali, whom he had represented. Thuraisingam was fined S$6,000 by the court. Wong also lodged a complaint to the Law Society in relation to the same poem. A disciplinary tribunal appointed by Sundaresh Menon, the Chief Justice, held that Thuraisingam had not intended to attack the judiciary in his poem, which was found to be in contempt of court. They held that the references to judges in the poem 'is more likely to have been an authorial misstep than a deliberate assault upon judicial integrity'. Nevertheless, Thuraisingam was fined a further S$5,000 by the Law Society for penning the poem.Notable cases
2014
Thuraisingam acted for Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim's ex-wife, Teo Geok Fong, against HSBC Holdings for losses arising out of financial products which she alleged were negligently sold by the bank to her.Since 2014, Thuraisingam has been the personal lawyer for Jannie Chan, co-founder of The Hour Glass, in her various court cases against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and her ex-husband, Henry Tay. He also acted for Chan's daughter, Audrey Tay, who faced charges for drug offences.
2015
Thuraisingam represented Chung Khin Chun, a wealthy widow who had been duped into signing over control of her assets worth more than SG$30 million to Yang Yin, a tour guide she met in China. He succeeded in convincing the court to enable Chung to revoke the lasting power of attorney that gave Yang control over her assets.Thuraisingam also acted for one of the defendants in a suit by Credit Suisse to recover US$80 million in damages pursuant to alleged fraudulent loans obtained by REI Agro Limited.
Three Hindu Singaporeans instructed Thuraisingam to challenge the government's decision to ban the playing of musical instruments during Thaipusam. Tay Yong Kwang, the judge who heard the case, stated that although the playing of instruments in the course of the procession is a religious practice protected by the Constitution, such a provision is restricted by public order concerns as provided in the same laws. Tay accepted that the playing of instruments is an essential part of the procession, based on a Hindu expert's report and the applicants' submissions, but found it is not a universal practice. He also accepted that the trio had the legal standing to mount the court judicial review application. However, he found that the police had shown there were legitimate concerns based on their ground intelligence and were in a better position than the court to decide what was necessary for public order and safety.
2016
Thuraisingam acted for the Japanese trustee-in-bankruptcy of Masahiko Nishiyama in the High Court of Singapore in seizing and recovering assets worth US$90 million hidden by Nishiyama in various banks in Singapore. Nishiyama, who had dissipated and hidden his assets before his bankruptcy, was a creditor to the Resolution and Collection Corporation, a government-owned subsidiary of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan, to a sum of 43 billion yen.2017
Thuraisingam represented an ex-financial services director, Ramesh Krishnan, in successfully claiming damages of more than SG$3 million against AXA Life Insurance Singapore resulting from AXA providing a bad reference that cost Ramesh his new job.Thuraisingam also convinced the Court of Appeal to order a review of its own decision two years ago. The Court of Appeal had overturned a trial judge's acquittal of Ilechukwu Uchechukwu Chukwudi, a Nigerian convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore. After reviewing its decision to convict Ilechukwu, the Court of Appeal sent the case back to the trial judge who had originally acquitted Ilechukwu for that judge to evaluate new evidence.
2018
Thuraisingam represented Jolovan Wham, a Singaporean civil activist who was found guilty of contempt of court and faced a slew of criminal charges in relation to his civil activism. He also acted for Singapore Democratic Party politician John Tan, who was also found guilty of contempt of court.2019
Thuraisingam represented Soh Rui Yong, a national long distance runner, in a dispute with the Singapore National Olympic Council over the Council's nomination of a fellow national teammate, Ashley Liew, for the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy.He was also tasked to petition the President of the Republic of Singapore to grant clemency to Malaysian, Pannir Selvam Pranthanam who had been sentenced to death by the Singapore Court for drug trafficking. He acted on a pro bono basis to petition the President of Singapore as well as to appeal to the Attorney-General's Chambers for a certificate of substantive assistance to be issued to Pannir which would enable the Singapore Court to commute his sentence from death by hanging to life imprisonment instead.
He acted for Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam in bringing an application for Judicial Review to the Court of Appeal to challenge the Attorney-General's decision not to grant Nagaenthran a certificate of substantial assistance thus resulting in the mandatory death penalty being applied despite the fact that he was a mere innocent courier.
He acted for Teo Gim Heng in the Woodlands double murder trial, where Teo was accused of murdering his wife and daughter. He also represented Boh Soon Ho in the Circuit Road murder trial.
2020
Thuraisingam acted for Miya Manik who was accused of murdering the head of a rival illegal cigarette syndicate in the course of a gang clash over turf. Thuraisingam was successful in arguing for Miya Manik to be acquitted of the capital charge of murder.He also acted in the Court of Appeal for Dr Wee Tiong Boo. Dr Wee was acquitted at trial for allegedly raping a patient. He was however convicted by the High Court for digitally penetrating the patient without consent. The Prosecution appealed against the acquittal on the charge of rape, while Dr Wee appealed against his conviction of digital penetration without consent. The Court of Appeal after hearing arguments reserved its Judgment. In its Judgment of 10 June 2020, the Court of Appeal allowed Dr Wee's appeal and dismissed the Prosecution's appeal thereby acquitting him of all criminal charges against him.
He defended Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman who was charged together with his wife with killing his 5 year old son. Thuraisingam successfully argued that Ridzuan did not share a common intention with his wife to commit murder. Ridzuan was acquitted of the capital offence of murder by the High Court Judge, Justice Valerie Thean.
When Daniel Teo, a member of the Progress Singapore Party, an opposition party in Singapore, falsely accused the Singapore People's Party Chairman, Jose Raymond of accepting foreign funding from persons outside Singapore, Thuraisingam was retained as counsel by Raymond to act against Teo. Teo eventually admitted without reservation that his allegations that Raymond received overseas funding were completely baseless and untrue. He publicly apologised to Raymond and undertook not to repeat the allegations. Raymond out of goodwill and compassion decided to waive the monetary damages that he was entitled to from Teo.
Thuraisingam also acted for Chia Sin Lan who was convicted of bribing the general manager of Ang Mo Kio Town Council in his appeal against sentence which was heard by the Chief Justice of Singapore, Sundaresh Menon.