Attorney-General of Singapore

Attorney-General of the Republic of Singapore
Incumbent Lucien Wong
Website	app.agc.gov.sg

The Attorney-General of Singapore is the legal adviser to the government of the Republic of Singapore and its public prosecutor.

The office was founded in 1867 as the chief legal officer of the British crown colony of the Straits Settlements. The current requirements for appointment as Attorney-General are set out in the Singapore Constitution.^[1] Unlike some other countries that follow the Westminster parliamentary model, in Singapore the Attorney-General is not a member of Parliament. He carries out his functions, with the assistance of his deputy, known as the Solicitor-General, through the Attorney-General's Chambers.

List of office holders

Attorney-General of Singapore^[2]

• 1 Apr 1867 - 1 Jan 1883 Thomas Braddell
• 2 Jan 1883 - 2 Oct 1883 John Augustus Harwood (Acting)
• 3 Oct 1883 - 6 Nov 1893 John Winfield Bonser
• 7 Nov 1893 - 4 Feb 1906 William Robert Collyer
• 5 Feb 1906 - 28 Feb 1907 John Robert Innes (Acting)
• 1 Mar 1907 - 31 Dec 1909 Walter John Napier
• 1 Jan 1910 - 20 Feb 1911 Frederick Belfield
• 21 Feb 1911 - 24 Jan 1913 Thomas de Multon Lee Braddell
• 25 Jan 1913 - 24 Apr 1913 Evelyn Campbell Elli - (Acting)
• 25 Apr 1913 - 18 Nov 1919 Gerald Aubrey Goodman
• 19 Nov 1919 - 9 Jul 1925 James William Murison
• 10 Jul 1925 - 12 Jul 1929 Michael Whitley
• 13 Jul 1929 - 20 Apr 1933 Walter Huggard
• 21 Apr 1933 - 10 Aug 1936 Percy Alexander McElwaine
• 27 Oct 1936 - 14 Dec 1936 Newnham Arthur Worley (Acting)
• 11 Aug 1936 - 14 Feb 1942 Charles Gough Howell

Kensatku-Kan (Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor of the Japanese Administration)

• Feb 1942 - Sep 1945 Ichihara Kakka

Chief Legal Officer, British Military Administration

• Sep 1945 - 31 Mar 1946 Lieutenant Colonel T. C. Spencer-Wilkinson

Attorney-General of the Crown Colony of Singapore

• 1 Apr 1946 - 5 Sep 1955 Edward John Davies^[3][4]
• 6 Sep 1955 - 1 Jul 1957 Charles Harris Butterfield^[5][6]
• 2 Jul 1957 - 24 Jun 1959 Ernest Pattison Shanks^[7]

State Advocate-General of the State of Singapore

• 25 Jun 1959 - 8 Aug 1965 Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim

Attorney-General of the Republic of Singapore

V. K. Rajah, who became Attorney-General on 25 June 2014, attending a symposium at the University of Hong Kong in November 2010 when he was a Judge of Appeal

• 9 Aug 1965 – 31 Jan 1967 Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim
• 1 Feb 1967 – 31 Dec 1968 Tan Boon Teik (Acting)
• 1 Jan 1969 – 30 Apr 1992 Tan Boon Teik
• 1 May 1992 – 10 Apr 2006 Chan Sek Keong
• 11 Apr 2006 – 11 Apr 2008 Chao Hick Tin
• 11 Apr 2008 – 10 Apr 2010 Walter Woon
• 11 Apr 2010 – 30 Sep 2010 Koh Juat Jong (Acting)
• 1 Oct 2010 – 24 Jun 2012 Sundaresh Menon
• 25 Jun 2012 – 24 Jun 2014 Steven Chong
• 25 Jun 2014 – 13 Jan 2017 V K Rajah^[8]
• 14 Jan 2017 – present Lucien Wong

Notes

Bibliography

• Braddell, R. St.J (1983). The Law of the Straits Settlements: A Commentary. South East Asia: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195825594. 

External links

• "History". The Attorney-General's Chambers. Singapore Government. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-16. 
• "Attorney-General's Chambers website". 

Constitution of the Republic of Singapore
Text of the Constitution at Singapore Statutes Online
General principles	Exclusion of judicial review Remedies Representative democracy Rule of law Separation of powers
Fundamental liberties	Article 9 Article 10 Article 11 Article 12 Article 13 Article 14 Article 15 Article 16 Right to vote
The Government	President Cabinet Prime Minister Attorney-General
The Legislature	President Parliament Speaker Elections Presidential Parliamentary By-elections Group Representation Constituency Non-constituency Member of Parliament Nominated Member of Parliament
The Presidential Council for Minority Rights	Presidential Council for Minority Rights
The Judiciary	Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court State Courts Chief Justice Judicial officers Judicial independence
The Public Service	Singapore Civil Service Singapore Legal Service
Citizenship	Singaporean nationality law
Special powers against subversion and emergency powers	Internal Security Act
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal

Law of Singapore
Constitutional law	Executive branch President Government Cabinet Prime Minister Attorney-General Legislative branch President Parliament Judicial branch Judicial system Judicial independence Judicial officers Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court State Courts Constitution Elections Human rights Internal Security Act Presidential Council for Minority Rights Singaporean nationality law
Administrative law	General Exclusion of judicial review Remedies Threshold issues Illegality Fettering of discretion Precedent fact errors Relevant and irrelevant considerations Substantive legitimate expectation Irrationality Wednesbury unreasonableness Procedural impropriety Bias Procedural legitimate expectation
Alternative dispute resolution	Singapore International Mediation Centre Singapore Mediation Centre
Criminal law	Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act Misuse of Drugs Act Penal Code Section 377A of the Penal Code Sedition Act Vandalism Act
Family law	Matrimonial law Women's Charter
Religious law	Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act Charities Act
Procedure	Electronic Filing System Integrated Electronic Litigation System
Sources of Singapore law List of Acts of Parliament in Singapore

Singapore Legal Profession
Executive officers	Former Ministers for Law E. W. Barker S. Jayakumar Current Minister for Law K. Shanmugam Former Attorneys-General Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim Tan Boon Teik Chan Sek Keong Chao Hick Tin Walter Woon Koh Juat Jong (Acting) Sundaresh Menon Steven Chong V. K. Rajah Current Attorney-General Lucien Wong
Judicial officers	Former Chief Justices Wee Chong Jin Yong Pung How Chan Sek Keong Current Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon Current Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin Andrew Phang Judith Prakash Tay Yong Kwang Current Judges Andrew Ang Belinda Ang Steven Chong Choo Han Teck Woo Bih Li
Current Senior Counsel	Ang Cheng Hock Cavinder Bull Michael Hwang Philip Jeyaretnam Davinder Singh
Current counsel	Lawrence Ang Glenn Knight Quek Mong Hua
Current academics	Simon Chesterman Goh Yihan Ho Peng Kee Tommy Koh Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah Tan Cheng Han Eugene Tan Tan Yock Lin Simon Tay Thio Li-ann Eleanor Wong Walter Woon
Current lawyers who turned politicians	Amrin Amin Chen Show Mao Chiam See Tong Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss Christopher de Souza Desmond Lee Lim Biow Chuan Sylvia Lim Hri Kumar Nair Vikram Nair Michael Palmer Indranee Rajah Pritam Singh Edwin Tong Alvin Yeo
Deceased notable lawyers	Subhas Anandan Hugh Hickling J. B. Jeyaretnam Kwa Geok Choo Lee Kuan Yew David Marshall K. S. Rajah T. S. Sinnathuray Robert Carr Woods
Law firms	Allen & Gledhill Allen & Overy Ashurst Clifford Chance Clyde & Co Donaldson & Burkinshaw Drew & Napier Hill Dickinson Rajah & Tann Rodyk & Davidson
Law schools	NUS Faculty of Law SMU School of Law SUSS School of Law
Legal organisations	Law Society of Singapore Singapore Academy of Law