Faculty Profile

• Bachelor of Civil Law, University of Oxford, 2015
• Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) (First Class), University of Oxford, 2014
• ACCA Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business, 2012

Academic Positions Held

Current Appointment:

• Assistant Professor of Law, Singapore Management University, Jan 2019-Present
• Director, Undergraduate Admissions (Sep 2020-Present)
• Member, SMU Institutional Review Board

Previous Appointment:

• Lecturer of Law, Singapore Management University, July 2017-Dec 2018

Honours and Awards

• SMU Yong Pung How School of Law Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award (Academic Year 2022-2023)
• SMU Yong Pung How School of Law Teaching Awards – Most Promising Teacher Award (Academic Year 2020-2021)
• SMU School of Law Teaching Awards – Top LGST Teacher Award (Academic Year 2018-19)
• Singapore Law Gazette Awards - Best Feature Article by a Young Lawyer, 2017
• MOE-START Early Career Award, 2017
• Singapore Law Gazette Awards – Best Feature Article by a Young Lawyer, 2015
• Slaughter & May Prize for Legal History, 2014
• Wronker Prize for Tort, 2014
• St Edmund Hall Open Scholarship, 2012-2014 

Courses Taught in SMU

• Constitutional and Administrative Law
• The Singapore Legal System
• Governance Through Law in Singapore: Institutions, Jurisprudence, and Values (with Eugene K B Tan)

Research Areas / Areas of Specialisation

• Constitutional law
• Administrative Law

Current Projects

• Judicial review of executive action on substantive grounds
• Legal responses to false statements and other challenges
• The constitutional right to profession of religion

Selected Publications

• Please refer to Curriculum Vitae and SSRN for more details. 
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, “Judicial review of prosecutorial discretion: missed opportunities” (2025) Law Quarterly Review (forthcoming)
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "How Can Malaysian Courts Consistently Perform Meaningful Constitutional Rights Review? Lessons from Past Cases and the Way Forward" (2024) 19 Asian Journal of Comparative Law 255-293
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Constitutional supremacy, inherent powers, and orders that damages or costs be paid in instalments: Tan Meow Hiang v Ong Kay Yong [2023] SGHC 286" (2024) 43 Civil Justice Quarterly 106-119
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "The New System of Civil Appeals: What ‘Constitutional or Administrative Law’ Is; Whether to Appeal to the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal; and Proposals for Broader Reform - Tan Beng Hui Carolyn v Law Society of Singapore [2023] SGCA 7" (2023) 35 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 421-438
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, “Can delaying an execution due to COVID-19 amount to unconstitutional discrimination?" [2022] Public Law 156-158
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "The Unmeritorious ‘Legality’/‘Merits’ Distinction in Singapore Administrative Law" (2021) 16 Asian Journal of Comparative Law 1-32
• Eugene KB Tan, Kenny Chng Wei Yao and Benjamin Joshua Ong (contributors), Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore: Volume 1 – Administrative Law (2022, LexisNexis)
• Eugene KB Tan, Kenny Chng Wei Yao and Benjamin Joshua Ong (contributors), Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore: Volume 6(3) – Constitutional Law (2020, LexisNexis)
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Proportionality in Malaysia: new dawn or ‘merely obiter’?", in Po Jen Yap (ed), Proportionality in Asia (2020, Cambridge University Press), pp 105-139
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Case Note – Compensation for Abused Foreign Domestic Workers: A Problem of Enforcement: Tay Wee Kiat v Public Prosecutor [2018] 5 SLR 438; Tay Wee Kiat v Public Prosecutor [2019] SGHC 224" (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 1200-1218
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "The ouster of Parliamentary sovereignty?" (case note on R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal) (2020) Public Law 41 – 49
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Standing Up for Your Rights: A Review of the Law of Standing in Judicial Review in Singapore" [2019] Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 316 – 350
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Government Funding of Town Councils: The Role of Private Law" (2019) 31 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 944 – 986
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "The Doctrine of Severability in Constitutional Review: A Perspective from Singapore" (2019) 40 Statute Law Review 155 – 174
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "The constitutionality of ouster clauses: Nagaenthran a/l K Dharmalingam v Attorney-General [2018] SGHC 112" (2019) 19 Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 157 – 178
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Enforcing Town Councils’ Duties of Financial Prudence: Problems Addressed by the Town Councils (Amendment) Act 2017" (2018) 30 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 923 – 948
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Premature Service of Payment Claims Under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act: Audi Construction Pte Ltd v Kian Hiap Construction Pte Ltd" [2018] Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 128 – 139
• Benjamin Joshua Ong, "Case Note – New Approaches to the Constitutional Guarantee of Equality Before the Law: Lim Meng Suang v Attorney-General [2015] 1 SLR 26 (CA); [2013] 3 SLR 118 (HC); Tan Eng Hong v Attorney-General [2013] 4 SLR 1049 (HC); [2012] 4 SLR 476 (CA)" (2016) 28 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 320 – 353