Charmaine Yap named winner of the 2026 IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award
The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, has named Charmaine Yap, from Singapore, as the recipient of the 2026 IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. Her career reflects legal excellence, service to the community and a deep commitment to improving access to justice for those most in need.
About the IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award
The IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee presents the Award annually to a young lawyer who has shown excellence in their work and achievements in their career to date, as well as a commitment to professional and ethical standards and to the larger community.
The Award is given in memory of former IBA President William Reece Smith Jr, who distinguished himself over a career spanning more than 50 years as an accomplished lawyer, legal scholar and mentor, and who was widely known for his support for legal services to the poor.
Commenting on receiving the 2026 Award, Charmaine Yap said:
‘This award affirms our collective responsibility to use our voices. Lawyers work with power and with the language of rights and responsibilities. With this privileged position, we cannot accept inequality simply because it is longstanding, violence because it is distant or injustice because it is familiar. My work to advance the rights of migrant workers and refugees, and to push for action on climate change and energy justice, grew from recognising that it is entirely blind fortune that decides where, when and as what we are born. Because of that, our obligations cannot be limited by borders, by time or by species. This award reminds me that there is a community of lawyers who refuses to become desensitised to suffering and who continues to insist that dignity matters.’
Recognising legal excellence in service of justice
Ms Yap was selected for the award in recognition of her exceptional commitment to using the law in service of justice, the public interest and vulnerable communities. Over more than 13 years, she has built an outstanding record of advocacy for low-wage migrant workers, including through her work with Justice Without Borders, pro-bono representation in unpaid wage and abuse claims, policy research, training for NGOs, consular staff and lawyers and sustained engagement with migrant-worker rights organisations in Singapore and around the region.
Alongside her public interest work, Ms Yap has demonstrated remarkable professional and academic excellence. She has practised in complex disputes and white-collar investigations – including matters under Singapore’s Prevention of Corruption Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – and was involved in Singapore’s first deferred prosecution agreement, resolving bribery allegations connected to Brazil’s Operation Car Wash.
Ms Yap was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue her LLM at Columbia Law School, where she has developed research on subjects such as labour migration, anti-corruption enforcement, human rights and sustainable finance.
As a legislative assistant to a Member of Parliament in Singapore, Ms Yap contributed to extensive policy and law-reform work, including parliamentary questions, motion speeches and legislative initiatives focused on vulnerable groups, climate and the environment − among them the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. She also served as Singapore’s National Focal Point for ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights - MARUAH from 2018 to 2020, facilitating inter-parliamentary dialogue between legislators and civil society across Southeast Asia. Her leadership as Co-Chair of the Law Society of Singapore’s Young Lawyers Committee further reflects her dedication to strengthening the legal profession for future generations.
The IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award was presented to Ms Yap at the IBA Annual Conference in Copenhagen, at the SPPI Breakfast on Thursday 8 October 2026, by Zeina Obeid and Pranav Srivastava, Co-Chairs of the IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee. Yap’s acceptance remarks can be read here.
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Contact: IBApressoffice@int-bar.org
Notes:
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The IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, supported by LexisNexis, was established to honour the memory of former IBA President William Reece Smith Jr, who passed in 2013. Over a legal career spanning more than five decades, Smith was widely regarded as one of the profession’s most respected figures, combining an accomplished legal practice with extensive scholarship, mentorship and a long-standing dedication to expanding access to legal services for those unable to afford them.
Nominees are considered on the following criteria:- professional excellence;
- a reputation for, or advancement of, legal ethics and professional responsibility;
- service to the community – local and further afield; and
- other merits similar to the above or considered relevant by the candidate of his/her nominators, such as an innovative approach to their legal practice, including, but not restricted to, pro bono work.
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The IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee aims to help young lawyers enhance their skills and networks through IBA programmes, conferences and projects, while offering fresh ideas to the IBA. It serves as a first point of contact for young lawyers joining the Association, helping them learn about the IBA’s other divisions and become further involved in its work.
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Click here to download a photo of Charmaine Yap.
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The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, with the aim of protecting and promoting the rule of law globally, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world’s bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
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