Hany Soh

Ms Hany Soh joined MSC Law Corporation as an Associate when it commenced practice on 1 January 2016. She became a Director of our law corporation on 1 January 2017.

Hany graduated in 2011 from the University of Liverpool with a Bachelor of Laws (Second Class Upper Honours) and was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2013. Hany also holds a Diploma in Law & Management from Temasek Polytechnic.

Legal Practice

Hany’s main areas of practice include Civil & Commercial Litigation, Criminal Law, Family Law, Probate & Administration, Corporate Law and Intellectual Property Law.

Hany routinely represents clients in matrimonial disputes at the Family Justice Courts as well as in criminal cases, at the State Courts, the High Court and the Court of Appeal. In the course of her practice, Hany has facilitated the registration of several prominent trademarks.

The following are some notable cases that Hany had a hand in:

• Chan Shwe Ching v Leong Lai Yee [2015] SGHC 210: The long established position in the High Court case of Malayan Banking Bhd v Focal Finance Ltd [1998] 3 SLR(R) 1008, which states that a judgment for the payment of money could not be enforced by way of a Writ of Seizure and Sale (WSS) against a judgment debtor’s interest in immovable property held under joint tenancy with someone else, was successfully challenged for the first time. This case paved the way for the current legal position, confirmed in the subsequent case of Peter Low LLC v Danial Patrick Higgins [2018] SGHC 59, that creditors who have commenced legal proceedings and obtained judgements or orders against their a debtor can now enforce such judgments or orders by obtaining a WSS against the judgment debtor’s interest in a immovable property jointly-owned with someone else (regardless of whether such interest is held under a joint tenancy or tenancy in common).

• Phua Han Chun Jeffery v PP [2016] SGHC 73: We successfully persuaded the High Court to substitute a death sentence with life imprisonment under Section 33B(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act instead on the basis that he suffered an abnormality of mind that impaired his mental responsibility for his acts. This was the first time that such a substitution under Section 33B(3)(b) was done after an evaluation of conflicting psychiatrist reports by a Court.

• UBM v UBN [2017] SGHCF 13: We successfully argued in a husband’s favour, inter alia, for no maintenance to be awarded to his wife who has been a housewife throughout the course of the marriage. The Court was persuaded that there should be no maintenance for the wife as she had “sufficient financial resources” based on the assets that were divided and her children were all old enough to support their parents.

• Mohamed Affandi bin RosIi v PP [2018] SGCA 87: We successfully appealed against a conviction and death sentence. Our client was subsequently acquitted. The Court of Appeal was persuaded in a 2-1 split decision that the prosecution had failed to establish the chain of custody of exhibits and as such, failed to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt that the exhibits seized by the Central Narcotics Bureau were the substances eventually analysed by Health Sciences to be diamorphine. This was the first time that a challenge to the chain of custody of evidence was successful in Singapore.

Service to Profession

Hany is a Co-Chairperson of the Community Legal Clinic Committee of the Law Society of Singapore Pro Bono Services. She is also an advocacy trainer and assists in the training of students, attending the Preparatory Course leading to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, conducted by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education, in advocacy skills and court craft.

Community Service

Hany stood as a People’s Action Party candidate in the 2020 Singapore General Elections and was elected as a Member of Parliament for Marsiling-Yew GRC together with Minister Lawrance Wong, Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Alex Yam.

Prior to being elected as an MP, Hany was the Young PAP Chairman of the Bukit Panjang PAP Branch from 2015 to 2018. She was also the Auditor of the branch from 2017 to 2020. Hany was elected into the PAP HQ 2017/2018 Executive Committee.

Hany started serving as a grassroots leader in Bukit Panjang SMC in 2011 when she became a resident there. Hany was the Chairman of Bukit Panjang Zone 2 Residents’ Committee (RC) from 2013 to 2016. She continued serving the RC as its Vice-Chairman after she moved out from Bukit Panjang in 2016. Helped set up a monthly community legal clinic in the RC Centre, with the help of fellow members of the bar, providing pro bono legal advice to Bukit Panjang residents since 2014. This is the first community legal clinic set up in a RC in Singapore.

Hany was a North-West Community Development Councillor (2017-2020) and the current Chairperson of School Advisory Committee of Zhenghua Primary School. She is a Legal Advisor to the Soh Clan Association, the Cheng Hwa Cher Siah Temple and the Chu Siang Tong Temple.

Personal

When taking a break from serving the community, Hany enjoys spending her free time with her family and friends and exploring the world abroad. She is also a culinary enthusiast and finds tremendous satisfaction in attempting complex dishes in the comfort of her home.