Media Release: Singapore Courts Honour Dedicated Court Volunteers for Boosting Access to Justice

           The Singapore Courts celebrated the invaluable contributions of its dedicated court volunteers who embody the spirit of "Making a Difference, Delivering Justice." and recognised the efforts of 27 individuals who made an impact. These individuals play a critical role in enhancing Access to Justice for the community and were honoured at the Judiciary Volunteers Appreciation Lunch held on November 26, 2025, at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (LASCO) Long Service Award

2          This award recognises lawyers who have served 25 years or more representing accused persons charged with capital offences at trial and on appeal. This top accolade was presented to Mr Allagarsamy s/o Palaniyappan and Mr Mahadevan Lukshumayeh who have leveraged their extensive expertise and provided legal representation for over 40 LASCO cases each.

Outstanding Court Volunteer Awards

3          Two outstanding court volunteers from the State Courts were recognised for their outstanding commitment and support to pro bono work. The recipients are Mr Choo Si Sen (Advocate and Solicitor Category Award recipient), a dedicated volunteer mediator at the Court Dispute Resolution Cluster recognised for his diligence and expertise in mediating cases; and Ms Ng Lee Lee (Open Category Award recipient), a Contract Manager with a construction contract consultancy firm commended from her strong commitment to help Small Claims Tribunal litigants resolve their disputes through mediation.

4          Additionally, 23 volunteers from the State Courts were presented with Long Service Awards for their sustained and dedicated service, underscoring the vital role they play in supporting the Courts' operations and community outreach. A full list of award recipients is available in Annex A. Profiles of the LASCO Long Service Award and Outstanding Court Volunteer Award recipients are available in Annex B.

5          The awards were conferred by The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. In Chief Justice Menon’s welcome address to the court volunteers, he said: “Although you come from diverse backgrounds and assist us in many different ways, all of you are united by your passion and commitment to ensuring that we make access to justice a reality for our fellow citizens. So, I would like to reiterate our heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you for stepping forward and for offering your time, energies and expertise to support the Judiciary’s work.”

Issued by: Singapore Courts
26 November 2025

Annex A – Judiciary Volunteers Appreciation 2025 Award Recipients

About the Judiciary Volunteers Appreciation Award

The Judiciary Volunteers Appreciation Award recognises the sterling contributions of court volunteers, who have assisted and supported the Judiciary’s various programmes for self-represented persons and court users. Comprising members of the Bar, professionals and individuals from diverse backgrounds, court volunteers play an important role in the Judiciary’s effort to ensure that everyone who needs to access justice before the Courts is able to do so.

Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (LASCO) Long Service Awards

The LASCO Long Service Awards, conferred by the Supreme Court, are presented to volunteers who have contributed to LASCO for more than 25 years. Under the scheme, volunteers assist those who are charged with capital offences, regardless of nationality, on a pro bono basis.  The (LASCO) Long Service Awards were presented to Mr Allagarsamy s/o Palaniyappan and Mr Mahadevan Lukshumayeh.

Outstanding Court Volunteer Awards

The Outstanding Court Volunteer Awards (Advocate & Solicitor Category and Open Category) are conferred by the State Courts and presented to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication as volunteers. The Outstanding Court Volunteer Awards were presented to Mr Choo Si Sen (Advocate and Solicitor Category) and Ms Ng Lee Lee (Open Category).

Long Service Awards

The Long Service Court Volunteer Awards recognise court volunteers who have given their continued support and valuable time in serving the Courts. The Long Service Awards were presented to the following individuals for their service at the State Courts:

Annex B – Profiles of LASCO Long Service and Outstanding Court Volunteer Award Recipients

Mr Allagarsamy’s area of practice includes Civil and Criminal Litigation, Contract, Commercial Law, Matrimonial, accident claims, workmen compensation and other conveyancing.

Mr Allagarsamy was emplaced on the LASCO panel as a Lead Counsel in 1999. To date, he has handled more than 40 LASCO cases. He has always shown a keen willingness to take on LASCO assignments when approached by the Criminal Registry. Even though he has received negative comments that he should not be representing accused persons, he always tries his utmost to assist accused persons to be acquitted. He was also the award recipient of the LASCO Award in 2018.

In 2011, he was given the Minister for Law (MinLaw) Appreciation Award in 2011 for his commendable contribution as a volunteer with MinLaw.

Mr Lukshumayeh is the Founder and Managing Director of Lukshumayeh Law Corporation. He was called to the Bar in 1991. As an Advocate & Solicitor in Singapore and Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple, UK), his key litigation practice areas include criminal law, civil law, corporate and commercial law, family law, immigration law, labour law, landlord and tenant law, sports law, Wills and LPA.

Beyond his legal practice, his dedication to public service is demonstrated through volunteering with the LASCO, which he first joined as Assisting Counsel in 1998. He was subsequently emplaced as Lead Counsel in 2017. Through the LASCO Scheme it gives him meaning and an opportunity to assist an accused person who is facing serious charges for which the accused could suffer the death sentence.

Tirelessly working on LASCO assignments through the years, to date, Mr Lukshumayeh has been assigned to over 40 LASCO cases. He was also conferred with the LASCO Award for his outstanding contributions in 2021.

Mr Lukshumayeh is also an accredited Mediator with the Community Mediation Centre (Ministry of Law), Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE), and serves as a Senior Mediator on the Law Society Mediation Panel of Mediators.

To him it is always interesting, memorable and fulfilling when the charges against the accused is withdrawn, or reduced. To see the joy on the faces of the accused and their families make all the effort so very worthwhile.

Outstanding Court Volunteer Award (Advocate and Solicitor Category)

Mr Choo Si Sen’s legal career is distinguished by his extensive experience as a lawyer and consultant with the law firm, Tan Lee & Partners. His core expertise is in conveyancing matters, criminal cases and traffic offences. From handling rioting cases to high-profile murder trials in the High Court, and a legal advisor to various private and civic organizations, Mr Choo has demonstrated a profound understanding of the law and a steadfast commitment to upholding justice.

Mr Choo joined the State Courts panel of Associate Mediators, now known as Court Volunteer Mediators (CVMs) in 2002, where he has dedicated 23 years of service in mediating Criminal cases at the Court Dispute Resolution Cluster (CDRC). His tenure as a volunteer mediator is marked by his unwavering dedication, exceptional professionalism, and a genuine passion for resolving disputes through mediation. Mr Choo also handles criminal cases assigned to him with utmost diligence and expertise.

Mr Choo’s commitment to his role as a volunteer mediator is exemplified by his active participation in numerous mediation sessions, far exceeding the minimum requirements set forth by CDRC. During the award qualifying period from April 2024 to March 2025, Mr Choo volunteered on nine occasions, surpassing the minimum threshold of three sessions per year.

From April 2022 to March 2025, he volunteered on 39 occasions, well above the average number of sessions conducted by most of his peers. 

A memorable case for Mr Choo involves a dispute that he had to mediate amongst members in a religious institution, where some of its members were upset over the election results of its Committee Members and threatened to seek legal remedy to nullify the results. Mr Choo proposed to the parties to convene an Extra-General Ordinary Meeting (EGOM) strictly in accordance with its Constitution to elect “new committee members”. The EGOM, which was convened at the institution’s function hall where hundreds of its members were present, took place under his close supervision to ensure “fair-play and transparency”. Eventually, the results were officially announced and all members present accepted it. Hence, the dispute was amicably resolved. 

Outstanding Court Volunteer Award (Open Category)

Ms Ng Lee Lee is a Contract Manager with a construction contract consultancy firm and an accredited mediator with extensive mediation experience.

She is a member of the Institute of Construction Claims Practitioners, an Associate Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) and sits on the Singapore Construction Mediation Centre Panel of Mediators. Ms Ng is also a Certified Mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute, an Assistant Honorary Treasurer with the Society of Mediation Professionals (Singapore) and has mediated for salary-related employment claims in The Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).

As a mediator volunteer with SMC, Ms Ng mediated Small Claims Tribunal (SCT) cases from 1 September 2014 to 30 March 2016. On 1 April 2016, she was appointed State Courts Volunteer Mediator (CVM) and has continued to mediate SCT cases since.

For more than a decade, Ms Ng has demonstrated her strong commitment in helping SCT litigants resolve their disputes through mediation. She is an experienced mediator who handles diverse SCT claims ranging from consumer and business disputes arising from economic transactions to tortious claims on damage to property. Her familiarity with contractual principles and negotiation dynamics as a Contract Manager complements her role as a mediator to better guide disputants during mediation sessions toward mutually acceptable outcomes.

As a testament to her unwavering support to the State Courts, Ms Ng has been impressive in volunteering in a total of 105 mediation sessions, from April 2022 to March 2025, and achieved a remarkable settlement rate of 75 per cent. For the qualifying period from 1 Apr 2024 to 30 March 2025, Ms Ng mediated 27 cases and settled 70 per cent of these disputes.

Ms Ng always keeps to her scheduled mediation sessions without fail. She also readily stepped in to cover fellow CVMs who were unable to turn up for scheduled sessions due to exigencies, when required. Ms Ng also actively attended State Courts in-house training programmes tailored for CVMs on mediation and dispute resolution techniques.  

As a Court Volunteer, one case that stood out to Ms Ng involved a dispute between a small business owner and a customer over a heavily modified sports vehicle. Emotions ran high as the customer felt misled, while the business owner was deeply concerned about reputational damage. Through careful listening and reframing, Ms Ng helped both parties move from blame to understanding. The business owner, through careful negotiation and counter proposals, offered a partial refund, which the customer eventually accepted. What struck her the most was how a seemingly minor dispute, and what could have escalated into a lengthy legal battle, was resolved through empathy and communication.