Supreme Court of Singapore - Supreme Court Building

Supreme Court Building

See also: Old Parliament House, Singapore, Empress Place Building, and Old Supreme Court Building, Singapore

The first courthouse in Singapore was the building known previously as Maxwell House and today as the Arts House at the Old Parliament. It was built in 1827 as a residence for a merchant named John Argyle Maxwell, but he opted to rent it to the colonial government for a rent of 500 Indian rupees a month for 15 years. A central room on the upper floor facing High Street was used by the Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore, and Malacca, while other rooms were used as government offices. In 1839, the court moved to a newly built one-storey annexe adjacent to Maxwell House so that the latter could be used entirely by the colonial government. Maxwell eventually sold the building to Sir George Bonham, Governor of the Straits Settlements, and the East India Company on 10 October 1842 for 15,600 Spanish dollars. However, the Maxwell House annexe proved to be unsuitable as a courthouse due to noise from a nearby shipbuilding yard. A new courthouse by the Singapore River was built in 1865. This building now forms the central core of the Empress Place Building which is occupied by the Asian Civilisations Museum. The courthouse was occupied by the court till 1875, when it moved into a new extension wing of Maxwell House. Maxwell House was eventually taken over by the legislature in 1954.

Construction on a new courthouse, now called the Old Supreme Court Building, began in 1937 on the site of the Grand Hotel de L'Europe on Saint Andrew's Road opposite the Padang. On 1 April 1937 the building's foundation stone – then the largest in Malaya – was laid by the Governor, Sir Shenton Thomas. Beneath the stone were placed six Singapore newspapers dated 31 March 1937 and some Straits Settlements coins; this time capsule is due to be retrieved in the year 3000. The Supreme Court Building was declared open by the Governor on 3 August 1939 and handed over to the Chief Justice Sir Percy McElwaine. Originally, the courthouse had four courts; another seven were added over the years. As this proved insufficient because of the Supreme Court's burgeoning caseload, at Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin's direction six additional courtrooms were constructed in the City Hall Building next door in 1986, and another six in 1988.

The present Supreme Court Building at 1 Supreme Court Lane (formerly Colombo Court) behind the old building was constructed between 2002 and 2005. Occupying 72,000 square metres (780,000 sq ft), it was designed by British architectural firm Foster and Partners and local architectural consultants CPG Corporation. The building is clad in translucent sheets of Portuguese rosa aurora marble. The liberal use of glass in atria, skylights and lift shafts, and the open layout of the building, are said to signify the ideal of transparency in the law. Operations in the building started on 20 June 2005, the first hearings took place on 27 June, and the building was officially opened by President S.R. Nathan at the Opening of the Legal Year ceremony on 7 January 2006. There are 12 civil courts, eight criminal courts and three appellate courts. High Court hearings take place in courtrooms on the second through sixth storeys, while the Court of Appeal is on the ninth storey, the highest level, in a disc-shaped structure that is a modern interpretation of the Old Supreme Court Building's dome and is intended to represent the impartiality of justice.