Yihan Goh

Professor Goh Yihan SC is the Dean of the School of Law, Singapore Management University. His research focuses primarily on the law of contract and torts, with a secondary interest in the principles of statutory interpretation and the legal process. He maintains a deep interest in the development of Singapore law in general and also in his areas of specialisation in particular. He has published numerous books, chapters and journal articles internationally and in Singapore, which have been cited on multiple occasions by the Singapore courts and the Federal Court of Malaysia. In recognition of his invaluable contributions to the development and advancement of Singapore law, he became the youngest recipient of the pentennial Singapore Academy of Law Singapore Law Merit Award in 2013. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2021.

Apart from his academic activities, Yihan is also active in the Singapore legal profession. Amongst his appointments, he is a board member of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education and the Singapore Judicial College. He has been appointed amicus curiae before the Singapore Court of Appeal and the Singapore High Court. He is also a Visiting Academic at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP and a Professorial Fellow at the AGC Academy. He is periodically consulted by law firms in his areas of expertise, and has appeared before the Court of Appeal as instructed counsel. He has also acted as an expert witness on Singapore law in the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Victoria (Australia).

Before entering academia, Yihan was an Assistant Registrar, the first-ever Senior Justices’ Law Clerk and a Justices’ Law Clerk between 2006 and 2008 at the Singapore Supreme Court. He obtained his LL.B. (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore on a University Undergraduate Scholarship, where he graduated as the top student in 2006. He subsequently obtained a LL.M. from Harvard University in 2010 on a NUS University Overseas Graduate Scholarship. He was the recipient of several academic awards in the course of his studies, including the Adrian Clark Memorial Medal, the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal and the B.A. Mallal Moot Prize (Best Oralist and Best Memorial).

Academic Positions Held

Current Appointment:

• Professor of Law, School of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2019-
• Judicial Commissioner, Supreme Court of Singapore, Jul 2022-

Previous Appointments:

• Dean, School of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2017-Jun 2022
• Initial Director, Centre for AI and Data Governance, School of Law, Singapore Management University, 2018-Mar 2020
• Associate Professor of Law, School of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2014-Jun 2019
• Associate Dean (Research), School of Law, Singapore Management University, Jan 2016-Jun 2017
• Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, 2011-2014
• Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, 2008-2010

Other Positions

• Assistant Registrar, Supreme Court of Singapore, 2008
• Senior Justices' Law Clerk, Supreme Court of Singapore, 2008
• Justices' Law Clerk, Supreme Court of Singapore, 2006-2008

Honours and Awards

External Research Grants:

• Grant of $4.5m from National Research Foundation and Info-Communications Media Authority to pursue 5-Year Research Programme on Governance of AI and Data Use (October 2018) (As Lead PI, together with a team from the School of Law, SMU)
• Grant of $12,000 from Singapore Judicial College to pursue project on courts’ citations of academic literature (January 2017)
• Project Lead in project on Contract Law under the Asian Business Law Institute (September 2016)
• Grant of $17,000 from Singapore Judicial College to pursue project on courts’ citations of academic literature (July 2015) (with Cheah Wui Ling)
• Grant of $15,000 from Singapore Academy of Law to pursue project on empirical research of Singapore law (August 2009) (with Paul Tan)

Professional Awards:

• Academy Publishing Award, 2017
• JCI Top 10 Outstanding Young Persons Award (in the category of Political, Legal and/or Governmental Affairs), 2015
• Singapore Academy of Law Singapore Law Merit Award, 2013

• Singapore Academy of Law Overseas Attachment Award (3-month attachment at Essex Court Chambers in London), 2013 ​ Teaching Awards:

• SMU School of Law Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2017

• SMU University Most Innovative Teaching Award (Nominated), 2016

• SMU School of Law Most Outstanding Teacher Award, 2016

• SMU School of Law Most Promising Teacher Award, 2015

• NUS University Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2014

• NUS Faculty of Law Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2014

• NUS Faculty of Law Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2013

• NUS Faculty of Law Annual Teaching Excellence Award, 2010

Academic Awards:

• NUS University Overseas Graduate Scholarship, 2009
• Order of Merit, Singapore Practical Law Course (Bar Exam), 2006
• Valedictorian (Rank 1st of 204), Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, 2006
• Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal (Best Graduate), 2006
• Adrian Clark Memorial Medal (Best Graduate), 2006
• Leow Chia Heng Prize (Best Graduate), 2006
• Law Society of Singapore Book Prize (Best Student, 2nd Year), 2004
• B.A. Mallal Moot Prize (Best Oralist), 2004
• B.A. Mallal Moot Best Memorial Prize, 2004
• NUS Undergraduate Scholarship, 2003

Courses Taught in SMU

• The Law of Contract
• The Law of Torts
• The Law of Equity & Trusts

Research Areas / Areas of Specialisation

• The Law of Contract
• The Law of Torts
• Statutory Interpretation
• The Singapore Legal System

Selected Publications

• The Interpretation of Contracts in Singapore (Singapore, Thomson Reuters, 2018)
• International Encyclopaedia of Laws, Property and Trust Law, Singapore (The Netherlands, Kluwer Law International, 2018) (with Alvin See W-L and Yip Man)
• Singapore Chronicles: Law (Singapore, Institute of Policy Studies-Straits Times Press, 2015)
• Contract Law in Singapore (The Netherlands, Wolters Kluwer Law and Business, 2012) (748 pp) (with Andrew Phang Boon Leong) (originally published as a monograph in the International Encyclopaedia of Laws)
• "Case Note on Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2018] UKSC 4” (forthcoming in the Torts Law Journal) (with Kenny Chng and Gary Chan)
• "Contract Law in Commonwealth Countries – Uniformity or Divergence” (2019) 30 Singapore Academy of Law Journal (published on e-First on 16 March 2019) (with Andrew Phang Boon Leong)
• “A Statistical Analysis of the Influence of the Journal of Contract Law in Commonwealth Court Decisions” (2018) 35 Journal of Contract Law 14–55 (as a conference proceeding) (with Andrew Phang Boon Leong)
• “Pioneering Scholar and Practitioner – The Life and Work of Professor J W Carter” (2017) 34 Journal of Contract Law 100–138 (with Andrew Phang Boon Leong)
• “Towards a Consistent Use of Subsequent Conduct in Singapore Contract Law” [2017] Journal of Business Law 387–412
• “Convergence between Australian common law and English common law: the rule against penalties in the age of freedom of contract” (2017) 46 Common Law World Review 61–68 (with Yip Man)
• “The English Reformulation of the Penalty Rule: Relevance in Singapore?” (2017) 29 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 257–274 (with Yip Man)
• “Concurrent Liability in Tort and Contract: An Analysis of Interplay, Intersection and Independence” (2017) 24 Torts Law Journal 148–172 (with Yip Man)
• “An Empirical Study on the Singapore Court of Appeal’s Citation of Academic Works: Reflections on the Relationship between Singapore’s Judiciary and Academia” (2017) 29 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 75–125 (with Cheah Wui Ling)