Christopher de Souza: Difference between revisions

'''Christopher de Souza''' (born 21 January 1976) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore since 2020. A member of the governing [[People's Action Party]] (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ulu Pandan division of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC since 2006.

Aside from his political career, de Souza is a practicing lawyer and a partner at Lee & Lee, where he has worked since 2006, with a brief tenure at WongPartnership between 2011 and 2014. Prior to entering politics, he was part of the Singapore Legal Service.

De Souza attended St. Michael's Primary School, St. Joseph's Institution, and Raffles Junior College. He later pursued law at King's College London, where he graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours). In 2001, he obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) from the University of Oxford under a scholarship.

Beyond academics, de Souza was an accomplished field hockey player and represented Singapore in various tournaments until 2005.

De Souza began his career in the Singapore Legal Service in 2002 as a Justice's Law Clerk to Chief Justice Yong Pung How. Between 2004 and 2005, he served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers. In 2005, he was appointed as a Magistrate in the Subordinate Courts and an Assistant Registrar in the High Court.

In 2006, de Souza joined Lee & Lee as a Senior Associate, becoming a Partner in 2008. He later moved to WongPartnership in 2011 as a Partner before returning to Lee & Lee in 2015 in the same role.

In 2022, the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Law Society of Singapore found that de Souza had engaged in professional misconduct by assisting a client in suppressing evidence. However, this decision was overturned on appeal. On 31 July 2023, the Court of Three Judges ruled that de Souza had no intention of suppressing evidence, fully acquitting him. In November 2023, the Law Society of Singapore was ordered to refund him over S$32,000 in legal costs, affirming his complete exoneration.

De Souza entered politics in the 2006 general election, contesting as part of a five-member PAP team in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC, which won uncontested. He became an MP for the Ulu Pandan division, a position he has retained since.

Since 2006, de Souza has served on various Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs). He was Deputy Chairman of the GPC for Manpower from 2011 to 2015 and has been Chairman of the GPC for Home Affairs and Law since 2015. In 2009, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. On 31 August 2020, he was elected Deputy Speaker of Parliament alongside Jessica Tan.

De Souza is a Catholic. He is married to Sharon, and a father of four children.

[[Category:PAP]]