Attorney-General of Singapore

Attorney-General of the Republic of Singapore
Incumbent V K Rajah
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.

Prior to 1867 the law officer of Singapore was the Recorder of the Prince of Wales Island, Malacca and Singapore (1826 to 1855), the Recorder of Singapore (1855 to 1864) and the Crown Counsel of Singapore (1864 to 1867).

List of office holders

Recorders of Penang ^[2]

• 1808-1816 Sir Edmond Stanley
• 1817 Sir George Andrew Cooper
• 1817-1824 Sir Ralph Rice
• 1824 Sir Francis Souper Rayley^[3]
• 1856-1866 Sir Peter Benson Maxwell
• 1866-1867 Sir William Hackett

Recorders of Penang, Singapore, Malacca ^[4]

• 1827-1829 Sir John Thomas Claridge
• 1833-1835 Sir Benjamin Heath Malkin
• 1835-1836 Sir Edward John Gambier
• 1836-1847 Sir William Norris
• 1847-1850 Sir Christopher Rawlinson
• 1850-1855 Sir William Jeffcott

Recorders of Singapore, Malacca ^[5]

• 1856-1866 Sir Richard Bolton McCausland
• 1866-1867 Sir Peter Benson Maxwell

Recorder of Singapore/Crown Counsel of Singapore ^[6]

• 1866-1867 Sir Peter Benson Maxwell

Attorney-General of Singapore^[7]

• 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 Clarence 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^[8][9]
• 6 Sep 1955 1 Jul 1957 Charles Harris Butterfield^[10][11]
• 2 Jul 1957 24 Jun 1959 E. P. Shanks

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 – present V K Rajah^[12]

Notes

1. Article 35.
2. http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/default.aspx?pgID=2601
3. "Sir Francis Souper Bayley". Legacies of British Slave-ownership UCL. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
4. http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/default.aspx?pgID=2601
5. http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/default.aspx?pgID=2601
6. http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/default.aspx?pgID=2601
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
8. "Photo Album & 40 Little Known Facts". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
9. "Singapore's 1958 Constitution: Fifty Fascinating Facts from Fifty Years". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
10. "Charles Harris Butterfield". Lundy Consulting Ltd. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
11. "BUTTERFIELD". Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
12. Lim Yan Liang (29 April 2014), "Justice V. K. Rajah to take over as Attorney-General in June", The Straits Times; Neo Chai Chin (29 April 2014), "Justice V K Rajah appointed Attorney-General", Today, p. 1, archived from the original on 4 August 2014; "New A-G sworn in", The Straits Times, 26 June 2014.

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".