The President of the Republic of Singapore has announced the appointment of David W. Rivkin as an international judge to the Singapore International Commercial Court. His term as international judge began in April 2024 and will end in January 2027.
From the announcement:
Justice Rivkin has held prominent positions in arbitration institutions, government committees and other non-governmental organisations across the world. He was the President of the International Bar Association (IBA) from 2015 to 2016. He was the first American to serve in that position in 25 years. During his term, he led efforts relating to judicial integrity (on which he worked with Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon), climate change justice, business and human rights, human trafficking, human rights and the rule of law, and the independence of the legal profession, among others. Justice Rivkin has been a member of the Council of the American Law Institute (which drafts Restatements of American law) since 2009.
Justice Rivkin holds leadership positions in many arbitration institutions, including currently the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (which he currently co-chairs), the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration and the Mauritius Arbitration and Mediation Centre. Justice Rivkin was appointed to the International Council for Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) in 2020, after having served as an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport for more than 20 years, including at three Olympic Games. He is currently the Deputy President of ICAS’s Anti-Doping Division.
Justice Rivkin had also served, amongst others, as a Council member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and on the London Court of International Arbitration (including as Vice President and Chair of its North American Users’ Council), the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (as Vice Chair), the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association, the Commission of the ICC Court of Arbitration and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. He has frequently been involved in the drafting and revising of arbitration rules in these arbitration institutions. He is on the panels of many international arbitration institutions, including the SIAC, the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB).
With this appointment, the Supreme Court will have a total of 34 Judges (including the Chief Justice, three Justices of the Court of Appeal, four Judges of the Appellate Division, 18 Judges of the High Court, three Judicial Commissioners, five Senior Judges) and 21 IJs.