He led changes to modernize the courts and made important decisions on online lies, a law called Section 377A, and the death penalty.

Chief Justice Menon will retire on February 26, 2027. He will be replaced by Justice Sushil Nair.

Menon graduated from the National University of Singapore and Harvard Law School. He became a law firm partner at 27.

He helped start a law firm called WongPartnership in 1992.

Menon became Attorney-General in 2010 and Chief Justice in 2012 at the age of 50.

He wanted to improve the family justice system. The courts started using a new approach to help families and young offenders.

This approach focused on solving problems and helping people instead of just punishing them.

Chief Justice Menon explained that a family judge should be like a doctor, helping people and making them feel better.

He introduced a simpler way for people to get divorced, making it faster and less expensive.

The courts also made it easier for people to get help without a lawyer.

They used simpler language, like saying 'order to attend court' instead of 'subpoena'.

The Singapore Judicial College was started to train judges better.

Chief Justice Menon also started the Singapore International Commercial Court to help with international business disputes.

The court was launched in 2015 and helped Singapore become a good place for businesses to solve disputes.

Menon led the courts through the COVID-19 pandemic, using technology like remote hearings and artificial intelligence.

He warned that social media can spread false information and hurt the truth.

The courts make sure to explain their decisions clearly so everyone can understand.

Chief Justice Menon said that judges write decisions for everyone, not just lawyers.

He said judges should write for the people involved in the case and for the whole country.

A retired judge said it was a privilege to know Chief Justice Menon and remembered him for his thoughtfulness and vision.

Chief Justice Menon made important decisions in several landmark cases that affected ordinary people's lives.

In 2021, he led a panel that upheld a law against online lies.

He disagreed with the Attorney-General's argument that a statement is false just because a minister says so.

He said the minister could be mistaken, and only a court can decide what is true or false.

In 2022, he led a panel that upheld a law that criminalizes sex between men.

The court said the law was not being enforced, and the Attorney-General had not changed its stance.

Chief Justice Menon said that politics, not the courts, should resolve issues that divide society.

He said the political process can accommodate different opinions and find compromises.

The courts, on the other hand, have a zero-sum process where one side wins and the other loses.

The political process seeks to find middle ground and consensus.

The law against sex between men was later repealed by parliament.

In 2019, Chief Justice Menon led a panel that dismissed an appeal by a man on death row.

The court established a test to determine if a drug trafficker had a mental impairment that reduced their responsibility.

If they passed the test, they could be sentenced to life in prison instead of death.

The man on death row failed the test and was executed in 2022.

In the same year, Chief Justice Menon was on the bench for another death row case.

The court made a rare decision to overturn the death sentence and give the man life in prison.

Chief Justice Menon wrote the majority decision, explaining how the man's struggles with drug abuse and depression affected his actions.