Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable Judicial Commissioner
Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir
Office1:Judicial Commissioner of Singapore
Term Start1:2 May 2024
Appointer1:Halimah Yacob
Nationality:Singaporean
Alma Mater:

Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir PPA SC (born 1980) is a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore.

Education

Mohamed Faizal graduated from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law with a first class honours LLB in 2005.[1] Mohamed Faizal subsequently received his LLM from Harvard Law School in 2009.[2] His thesis written at Harvard Law School was awarded the Gold Medal Prize by the International Insolvency Institute.[1]

Legal career

After graduation from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, Mohamed Faizal served as a Justices' Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Mohamed Faizal then moved on to the Attorney-General's Chambers, where he eventually became Second Chief Prosecutor.[3] He was also previously in the Singapore Medical Council.

One of the cases managed by Mohamed Faizal was the prosecution of Gaiyathiri Murugayan for the abuse and murder of her Myanmar maid Piang Ngaih Don, who died in July 2016. Gaiyathiri was initially charged with intentional murder before the charge was reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder due to her psychiatric disorders; she also faced more than a hundred charges of causing various degrees of hurt (ranging from hurt to grievous hurt) to the maid. Mohamed Faizal sought the maximum sentence of life imprisonment (or at least 27 years' jail) for Gaiyathiri, labelling her conduct as cruel and heinous, describing the case of Piang's death as a shocking case without parallel. Gaiyathiri was eventually sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on 22 June 2021.[4] [5]

Mohamed Faizal was also involved in the appeal against the sentences of Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman for the 2016 fatal abuse and murder of their five-year-old son; the couple were earlier acquitted of murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison for child abuse and causing grievous hurt. Senior counsel Goh Yihan was appointed by the Court of Appeal as amicus curiae for the case. Mohamed Faizal successfully convinced the Court of Appeal to find Azlin guilty of murder and increase Ridzuan's sentence to life imprisonment on 12 July 2022.[6] [7] Although Mohamed Faizal argued for the death penalty, Azlin was sentenced to life imprisonment for her son's murder three months later by the Court of Appeal.[8]

As a prosecutor, Mohamed Faizal has been described in Parliament as "an excellent example of how one mixes heavy duty responsibilities with regular volunteer work",[9] and has elsewhere been described as one who "epitomises the fair approach" and is "a fair, honorable prosecutor."[10]

In July 2023, Mohamed Faizal was appointed as Judicial Commissioner in the Supreme Court of Singapore, and started his two-year term on 2 May 2024.[11]

Mohamed Faizal was also general editor of the Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore - Annotations and Commentary published in 2012.[12]

Professional Appointments

Mohamed Faizal has sat, and sits, on the MUIS Appeal Board,[13] the board of Advisory.SG,[14] the Advisory Board of the Silent Heroes Awards,[15] as Chairman of the Singapore Silent Heroes Student Award Committee,[16] and also on the NUS Law Advisory Council.[17] He was also on the Editorial Board of the New York International Law Review.[18] Mohamed Faizal has also served on various committees such as the Committee for University Education Places 2015[19] and the Eldershield Review Committee.[14]

Mohamed Faizal is a principal mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre.[20] He had held adjunct teaching positions in the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law[21] and has also been involved in numerous training initiatives, including mediation and negotiation courses.

Awards

Mohamed Faizal received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2014.[22] He has undertaken significant work in the area of international conflict resolution and in peace initiatives and was awarded the Association of Conflict Resolution's International Outstanding Leadership Award and the International Mediator of the Year Award.[23]

Mohamed Faizal was awarded the President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Award in 2015 by the President of Singapore for his work on developing scholarships for lower-income students, including at Bedok View Secondary and at Tampines Junior College.[24] Mohamed Faizal also founded the Phoenix Grant at NUS Faculty of Law,[25] the SLaw Daya Award at the Singapore University of Social Studies,[26] the Raffles Prize and Phoenix Prize at Raffles Hall at the National University of Singapore,[27] and the Health and Humanity Prize at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.[28] He further conceived, and funds, the KS Talent Development Award & Scholarship in Visual Arts at Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) Katong, a special-needs school in Singapore, that allows special needs students to develop their visual arts talent.[29]

In 2016, Mohamed Faizal was appointed as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[30]

Mohamed Faizal is listed in The 500 Most Influential Muslims, an annual international publication, as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World.[31]

Mohamed Faizal was appointed Senior Counsel in January 2020,[32] the first Malay-Muslim in Singapore to be so appointed and becoming the youngest Senior Counsel to be appointed in the Legal Service.[33] He received the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award that same year for his achievements in the legal profession and his contributions to community causes.

References

  1. Web site: Murali Pillai, Jason Chan, Mohamed Faizal appointed Senior Counsel . 25 May 2022 . Business Times.
  2. Web site: Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir . 25 May 2022 . Prestige Online - Singapore . en-US.
  3. Web site: 29 November 2022 . Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir . 4 February 2023 . The Varkey Foundation . en.
  4. News: 30 years’ jail for woman who abused and killed Myanmar maid Piang Ngaih Don. CNA. 22 June 2021. 1 July 2022.
  5. News: Fatal maid abuse: Apex court rejects woman’s request for records to support her appeal against 30-year jail term. Today. 4 May 2022. 1 July 2022.
  6. News: Public Prosecutor v Azlin binte Arujunah. Supreme Court of Singapore. 12 July 2022. 12 July 2022.
  7. News: 5-year-old boy who was scalded to death: Mother convicted of murder, father gets life term. The Straits Times. 12 July 2022. 12 July 2022.
  8. News: Parents get life sentence for scalding their 5-year-old son to death. The Straits Times. 18 October 2022. 18 October 2022.
  9. Web site: Pillai . Murali . 2021-11-12 . Speech on Constitution of Singapore (Amendment) Bill dealing with creation of the Judicial Service… . 2024-05-19 . Medium . en.
  10. Web site: Lim . Edna . 2020-11-19 . Berita Harian Achiever Of The Year Award Ceremony 2020 . 2024-05-19 . PAP Nee Soon . en-US.
  11. News: Three new judicial commissioners appointed to Supreme Court bench. The Straits Times. 21 July 2023.
  12. Web site: The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore – Annotations and Commentary . 4 February 2023 . www.sal.org.sg . en.
  13. Web site: 2020-11-19 . Berita Harian Achiever Of The Year Award Ceremony 2020 . 2023-11-30 . PAP Nee Soon . en-US.
  14. Web site: 30 September 2020 . BOARD OF ADVISORS: MOHAMED FAIZAL MOHAMED ABDUL KADIR . 25 May 2022 . Advisory . en-GB.
  15. Web site: Singapore Silent Heroes Ordinary Humans. Extraordinary Humanity. . 25 May 2022 . Singapore Silent Heroes Ordinary Humans. Extraordinary Humanity. . en-GB.
  16. Web site: SSH-admin . 2024-02-07 . Never Too Young To Be A Silent Hero - Mr Mohamed Faizal . 2024-04-08 . Singapore Silent Heroes Ordinary Humans. Extraordinary Humanity. . en-GB.
  17. Web site: Faculty of Law . NUS . NUS Law Advisory Council . 2023-11-30 . law.nus.edu.sg.
  18. Web site: Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir . 25 May 2022 . Prestige Online - Indonesia . en-US.
  19. Web site: Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir . 25 May 2022 . World Economic Forum . en.
  20. Web site: Principal Mediator . 25 May 2022 . Singapore Mediation Centre . en-US.
  21. Web site: NUS - Faculty of Law : Asia's Global Law School . 25 May 2022 . law1.nus.edu.sg.
  22. Web site: Board of Advisors . Advisory.sg.
  23. Web site: Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir . 27 May 2022 . World Economic Forum . en.
  24. Web site: Omar . Siti Nur Aisha . 15 October 2015 . Legal Service Officer wins President’s Award for Youth for volunteer work . 25 May 2022 . The New Paper . en.
  25. Web site: NUS Giving Webinar Series – Pay It Forward Conversation . 2023-11-30 . nus.edu.sg.
  26. Web site: Cultivating Tenacity Through Adversity – SLAW Daya Award . 2024-06-23 . www.suss.edu.sg.
  27. Web site: Donors and Bursary Recipients . 2024-08-15 . nus.edu.sg.
  28. Web site: List of Medals and Prizes . 2024-07-19 . NUS.
  29. Web site: 10 September 2020 . National Arts Council Singapore Facebook Page . 2024-08-10 . www.facebook.com . en.
  30. Web site: Baharudin . Hafiz . 18 November 2020 . Senior counsel named Berita Harian Achiever of the Year for his legal work and community service The Straits Times . 25 May 2022 . www.straitstimes.com . en.
  31. Web site: Senior state counsel named Berita Harian Achiever of the Year . 25 May 2022 . Business Times.
  32. Web site: Meet the Newest Senior Counsel . 25 May 2022 . www.sal.org.sg . en.
  33. Web site: Lim . Edna . 2020-11-19 . Berita Harian Achiever Of The Year Award Ceremony 2020 . 2024-05-19 . PAP Nee Soon . en-US.