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Justice V K Rajah appointed Attorney-General

SINGAPORE — After a decade on the Bench, including the past seven years in the highest court of the land, Justice V K Rajah (picture) will take over from Mr Steven Chong as Attorney-General (A-G), with the latter returning to the position of High Court judge, the Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday.

SINGAPORE — After a decade on the Bench, including the past seven years in the highest court of the land, Justice V K Rajah (picture) will take over from Mr Steven Chong as Attorney-General (A-G), with the latter returning to the position of High Court judge, the Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday.

Justice Rajah, 57, is the first, since Justice Chao Hick Tin in 2006, to cross over from the Court of Appeal to become Public Prosecutor and chief legal adviser to the Government.

He will become the Republic’s fourth A-G in the past eight years, until his retirement at the age of 60 — a longer stint than the past four A-Gs, including Mr Chong, who had served for two years or less.

In contrast, former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong was A-G for 14 years from 1992 to 2006 and the late Tan Boon Teik served for 25 years, between 1967 and 1992.

Lawyers had previously expressed mixed views about the implications of the shorter tenures of the recent A-Gs, with some saying it could affect whether an A-G could stamp his mark in that timeframe, while others felt much could be achieved in two years.

Plaudits came yesterday for Justice Rajah, who was appointed Supreme Court Judge in 2004 and Judge of Appeal three years later.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said Justice Rajah made “immense and significant contributions to the jurisprudence of the Court”, leading several committees that resulted in ground-breaking changes to the profession and the administration of justice here.

He currently co-chairs the Family Justice Review Committee and the Singapore International Commercial Court Committee. Justice Rajah is also a staunch supporter of the Law Society’s (LawSoc) pro bono programmes and has provided energetic leadership on tackling many issues concerning practice and practitioners, said LawSoc President Lok Vi Ming.

Criminal lawyer Josephus Tan said Justice Rajah is a firm believer in access to justice for all. He recalled two cases assigned to him in 2012 involving offenders without lawyers — one was for loanshark harassment and the other serial theft — after the judge referred them for legal aid. “As a rookie handling appeals, Justice Rajah openly acknowledged a pro bono job well done even though I lost one, and similarly gave praise when I won the other.”

Noting that the A-G can improve the criminal justice system, lawyer Shashi Nathan said: “As the law develops, as new cases come up, there are always new challenges that we have to face. When you come from the Bench and you see how both sides have to deal with various issues — whether with evidence, disclosure, conduct during and after trial — from where he (Justice Rajah) has sat at the Bench, he’ll be in a fantastic position to fine-tune what he’s seen, to make improvements, to implement his own ideas.”

Meanwhile, Mr Chong, 56, was lauded for introducing several initiatives to the criminal justice system and for strengthening the working relationship between the Bar and his Chambers during his two-year term.

He launched an outreach programme last year that provided the public with accessible information on the criminal justice system and the prosecution process. Under Mr Chong, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) also launched the Code of Practice for the Conduct of Criminal Prosecutions with the LawSoc last March.

This Code and the Appropriate Adult Scheme — which allows trained professionals, such as social workers, to be present when statements are recorded from persons with intellectual disabilities — could not have been realised without Mr Chong’s strong personal support, noted Mr Lok.

Under his watch, the AGC clarified its position to the public on several occasions. For instance, it explained why the Coroner’s Inquiry into the death of prison inmate Dinesh Raman Chinnaiah was discontinued last July and why it does not publish guidelines on prosecutorial decisions last November.

Mr Chong also pioneered the embedment of deputy public prosecutors in enforcement agencies to enhance provision of legal advice and ensure greater efficiency for charging decisions. He also launched an initiative to enable statutory boards to be represented by the AGC in judicial review proceedings.

Criminal lawyers said it was under Mr Chong that the Bar and prosecutors increased their social and professional interactions. The increased camaraderie drives better understanding of each party’s position, Mr Tan said.

Said Mr Shashi: “Whether you are a member of the Bar, Bench, or prosecution, we are all cogs of the same system. We have distinct roles but need each other for the system to work properly. Where people can work together and communicate, generally the system can only improve.”

In a statement yesterday, Mr Chong said his time as A-G was “some of the most challenging but rewarding years of my career in the law”.

“It afforded me the unique opportunity to work with an entire community of dedicated public officers and to make a difference to the Legal Service and to the criminal justice system,” he added.

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