V. K. Rajah

V. K. Rajah
V. K. Rajah giving a speech at SMU School of Law in 2017. He has been chairman of the school's advisory board since 2017, and was also on the board from 2007–2013.
8th Attorney-General of Singapore
In office
25 June 2014 – 14 January 2017
Appointed by Tony Tan Keng Yam
Preceded by Steven Chong J, SC
Succeeded by Lucien Wong, SC
Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore
In office
11 April 2007 – 24 June 2014
Appointed by S. R. Nathan
Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore
In office
1 November 2004 – 10 April 2007
Appointed by S. R. Nathan
Judicial Commissioner of Singapore
In office
2 January 2004 – 31 October 2004
Appointed by S. R. Nathan
Personal details
Born (1957-01-14) 14 January 1957
Singapore
Nationality Singaporean
Alma mater

Vijaya Kumar Rajah (born 14 January 1957),[1] better known as V. K. Rajah, is a former Attorney-General of Singapore. Previously Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore, Rajah succeeded Steven Chong as Attorney-General on 25 June 2014. He stepped down on 14 January 2017 and was succeeded by Lucien Wong.

Early life

Rajah graduated with an LLB from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law in 1982 and obtained his Masters of Law (First Class) from Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1986.[2] His father, Thampore Thamby Rajah, better known as T. T. Rajah, was a leader of the former Singaporean left-wing political party Barisan Sosialis.[3]

Career

Rajah was among the first batch of lawyers in Singapore to be appointed Senior Counsel in 1997,[2] and was once the managing partner of law firm Rajah & Tann. He was also part of the NUS law school moot team which won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in 1982, a first for NUS. The other members of the team were Davinder Singh, Jimmy Yim, and Steven Chong. He was first appointed Judicial Commissioner on 2 January 2004, Judge of the High Court on 1 November 2004, and subsequently Judge of Appeal in April 2007.

Rajah's publications include Judicial Management in Singapore (with T. C. Choong, Singapore: Butterworths, 1990). He was also the chair of a committee that produced an influential report in 2007 reviewing Singapore's legal sector.[4]

Rajah has been a Director at Monetary Authority of Singapore since 1 November 2014.[5]

He was the Attorney-General of Singapore.[6] He was succeeded by Lucien Wong on 14 January 2017.[7] During his term, he "emphasised fair prosecution and outcomes", even appealing as a prosecutor for a reduced sentence in 2015, which was unprecedented in Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanked him for carrying out his duties "with dynamism and commitment".[8]

References

  1. ↑ Leadership Profiles, Attorney-General's Chambers, 25 June 2014, archived from the original on 18 September 2014 .
  2. 1 2 Statement From the Prime Minister's Office: Appointment of Judge of the High Court [Document No. 2004110101], Prime Minister's Office (archived on the National Archives of Singapore website), 1 November 2004, archived from the original on 18 September 2014 .
  3. ↑ "Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah's funeral today", The Straits Times, 15 March 1996 .
  4. ↑ Report of the Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal Sector: Final Report, Ministry of Law, September 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2012 .
  5. ↑ "Company Overview of Rajah & Tann". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "V K Rajah". asiatatler.com. Edipresse Media Asia Limited. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Attorney-General V K Rajah to step down next January". ChannelNewsAsia.
  8. ↑ "PM Lee thanks outgoing Attorney-General V K Rajah for outstanding contributions".
  • Judges, Judicial Commissioners and Registrars, Supreme Court of Singapore, 26 February 2014, archived from the original on 8 April 2014 .

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