Thio Shen Yi
Thio Shen Yi SC is a Singaporean lawyer who is a managing partner of the TSMP Law Corporation, alongside his wife Stefanie Yuen-Thio. He served as the president of the Law Society of Singapore in 2015 and 2016.
Education[edit]
Thio completed an undergraduate law degree at the University of Cambridge in 1991,[1] and was subsequently awarded first prize in the Council for Legal Bar Examination in 1992, topping his cohort for the UK Bar Examinations.[2]
Career[edit]
Thio was one of the founding members of TSMP Law Corporation,[3] which was named after his mother Thio Su Mien.[4] He and his wife Stefanie Yuen-Thio are its joint-managing partners.[5]
Thio was appointed Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2008.[6]
From 2015 to 2016, Thio was president of the Law Society of Singapore.[7][8][9] In that capacity, Thio advocated for accused persons to be given earlier access to legal counsel, pointing out that Singapore's criminal justice system was "an outlier" that placed emphasis on "efficacy of investigations over protection of suspects".[10][11] This topic received public attention when a 14-year-old boy committed suicide after having been brought in for questioning by police; Thio commented on the incident in the Law Society's newsletter Law Gazette, pointing out that as a vulnerable suspect, the child was not accompanied by a "parent, guardian or lawyer" during the police interview.[11][12] Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam responded to the piece in parliament, criticising it for implying that "police intimidation" had caused the death;[13] Thio issued a clarification that this had not been his intention.[14] Other issues Thio addressed during his tenure include the expansion of legal aid schemes to cover a wider range of criminal offences and provide pro bono legal assistance to more applicants, as well as managing a glut of law graduates flooding the job market.[15][16][17]
In 2021, Thio included in lifestyle magazine Tatler's list of 59 "Asia's Most Influential SG" in the Public Service & Law category.[18]
As of 2022[update], Thio is an independent director of Keppel Infrastructure Trust.[19] Thio was awarded the SAL Merit Award in 2022.[20]
Thio is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators,[21] and serves as a panel arbitrator of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre,[22] and the Asian International Arbitration Centre.[23] He is also a specialist mediator in the Singapore International Mediation Centre.[24] Thio has been described as "an influential figure in the legal community."[25]
Personal life[edit]
Thio is married to Stefanie Yuen-Thio, who is joint-managing partner of TSMP Law Corporation.[5] Thio is the brother of Thio Li-Ann, a professor at the NUS Faculty of Law. Thio's mother is Thio Su Mien, a former dean of the NUS Faculty of Law. Thio's father is Olympian Thio Gim Hock, who was also the chief executive of real estate developer OUE.[26]
In 2022, it was reported that Thio was one of the victims of a large-scale "nickel scam" in which he had invested $87,000.[27][28]
References[edit]
- ^ Asia, Tatler. "Thio Shen Yi". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Shen Yi Thio, SC > TSMP Law Corporation > Singapore > Singapore | Lawyer Profile". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ^ "Home". TSMP Law Corporation. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Notices". v1.lawgazette.com.sg. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ a b Asia, Tatler. "Stefanie Yuen Thio". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Chong, Chee Kin (6 January 2008). "New career milestone for 'Singapore's leading arbitrator'" (PDF).
- ^ Yi Han, Lim (14 November 2014). "Senior counsel Thio Shen Yi gets elected as new Law Society president | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Thio Shen Yi takes over as President of the Law Society for 2015". AsiaOne. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Past Presidents & Honorary Members – The Law Society of Singapore". www.lawsociety.org.sg. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Neo, Chai Chin (12 January 2016). "Law Society renews call for accused to have early access to lawyers". TODAY. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ a b Koh, Valerie (17 February 2016). "'Less intimidating approach' should have been taken in Benjamin Lim case: Law Society President". TODAY. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Thio, Shen Yi (17 February 2016). "Vulnerable Suspects and Access to Counsel". Singapore Law Gazette. Law Society of Singapore.
- ^ Lee, Min Kok (1 March 2016). "Shanmugam slams inaccurate statements on death of teen Benjamin Lim; MHA to look into how to respond to falsehoods". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Nurul Azliah (2 March 2016). "No intention to imply that Benjamin Lim's death was caused by 'police intimidation': Lawyer Thio Shen Yi". yahoo.com.
- ^ "LawSoc chief reflects on tenure, calls for fairer equilibrium in criminal justice system". TODAY. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "The Law Society of Singapore Annual Report 2015" (PDF). The Law Society of Singapore.
- ^ "Glut of law grads: 'Problem, what problem?'". AsiaOne. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Asia, Tatler. "Thio Shen Yi". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Mr Thio Shen Yi | Keppel Infrastructure Trust". www.kepinfratrust.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ SAL Merit Award 2022: Mr Thio Shen Yi SC, retrieved 8 January 2023
- ^ "Members Listing". Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.
- ^ "SIAC Panels Archive". Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
- ^ "Thio Shen Yi, SC". Asian International Arbitration Centre.
- ^ "Thio Shen Yi" (PDF). Singapore International Mediation Centre.
- ^ "Shen Yi Thio SC - TSMP Law Corporation - Experts". Lexology Profiles. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Iau, Jean (8 April 2020). "Real estate tycoon and Olympian Thio Gim Hock dies aged 82 | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Finian Tan, top lawyers Thio Shen Yi, Sunil Sudheesan, among alleged victims in S$1b nickel scam". Business Times. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Sun, David (29 June 2021). "Top lawyers among those allegedly cheated in $1 billion fraud scheme". The New Paper. Retrieved 25 May 2022.