GP Selvam (RIP)

Retired Judge G.P. Selvam (RIP) was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore in 1994 following a three-year term as Judicial Commissioner, and stayed until reaching the constitutional retirement age of 65 in 2001.

Judge Selvam has over 100 reported cases to his name as a Supreme Court Judge, covering a wide range of civil, commercial, arbitration and admiralty matters. He was also a member of the Supreme Court Working Party on Civil Procedure and the Rules Committee which introduced procedural measures for expeditiously clearing the backlog of civil and admiralty cases.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Selvam was in private practice with the law firm of Drew & Napier. He joined the firm in 1969 and stayed on until 1991 when as Senior Partner, he was elevated to the Supreme Court. He was a practice leader in shipping, admiralty, banking and international trade.

After his retirement in 2001, Judge Selvam was appointed C J Koh Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore. He returned to the practice of law and established his name as a leading practitioner in international arbitration where he, as arbitrator ruled on several landmark disputes. He joined Selvam LLC as Consultant, and held this position when the firm established Duane Morris & Selvam LLP, a joint law venture with U.S. law firm Duane Morris LLP in 2011.

Judge Selvam was editor-in-chief of the Singapore Civil Procedure first published in 2003 and republished in 2007.

In 2013, Judge Selvam was appointed Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into the Little India riot which took place in Singapore in December 2013.

Judge Selvam also chaired the Commission of National Inquiry in the Maldives to enquire into the events in 2012 that resulted in the transfer of power from President Nasheed. For more than a decade, he had advised the Government of Union of Myanmar in transactional and dispute resolution matters.

Judge Selvam graduated from the University of Singapore in 1968, and after a brief period as Assistant Lecturer, he was admitted as an advocate & solicitor of the Republic of Singapore in 1969. Following his retirement from practice in 2018, Selvam LLC appointed him as Senior Mentor Emeritus. In 2022, Mr. Selvam passed away due to personal health condition. May he rest in peace.