Chief Justice
On 28 September 1990, Yong was appointed the Chief Justice of Singapore, replacing Wee Chong Jin. During his first speech at the opening of the legal year, he announced the abolition of the traditional wigs worn by judges and lawyers, and the use of archaic terms of address for judges of the Supreme Court such as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship". He also made the Singapore justice system move faster in processing cases during his tenure by introducing cutting-edge technology into the courtroom.
In 1991, there were about 2,000 lawsuits to be heard at the High Court. A lawsuit could take several years to be heard. Some measures were introduced to resolve the problems which he described as an "embarrassing" state of affairs. When Yong left, it took only six months for the High Court to conclude a hearing.
However, the speed in which trials are conducted have led some critics to accuse Yong of convicting indiscriminately, leaving the burden of proof to the accused. As Chief Justice, he was also known to impose punitive sentences to those appealing cases he deemed to be frivolous.
Yong instituted the Night Courts in the Subordinate Courts, eliminating the need for members of the public to take time off work to attend court to answer to summonses for regulatory and minor offences. He also initiated the Justices' Law Clerk (JLC) scheme, under which top law graduates from leading universities in the United Kingdom and the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law were actively recruited to the Singapore Legal Service. The EFS (soon to be replaced by the iELS—designed to streamline the litigation process using technology—was also introduced during Yong's tenure as Chief Justice.
Yong was succeeded by the Honourable Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.
Read more about this topic: Yong Pung How
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“On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children’s children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)