SINGAPORE — Citing the Attorney-General's Chambers' (AGC) heavy involvement in ironing out the legalities of bilateral issues that have cropped up in the past year, Attorney-General Lucien Wong stressed the need for the organ of state to beef up its manpower to deal not only with more cases but increasingly complex ones.

Speaking at the Opening of the Legal Year 2019 on Monday (Jan 7), Mr Wong — who was appointed to the post in 2016 — said that the AGC strives to be the Government’s “strategic partner”.

Describing 2018 as a “fast-paced year”, he noted that Singapore’s leaders and the AGC had to deal with issues that were “complex and varied”.

Among them was managing cross-border relationships, as Singapore and Malaysia’s bilateral ties were “put to the test” last year after Malaysia’s new government took charge. This has had “significant impact” on ongoing bilateral projects, said Mr Wong.

One of them was the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail project, where AGC officers advised the Singapore Government and supported the negotiation process. There was a “positive and balanced” outcome as both countries reached a mutually agreeable resolution that also safeguarded Singapore’s interests, added Mr Wong.

He noted that the AGC also had to handle a slew of other bilateral issues. These included Malaysia’s unilateral extension of its Johor port limits into Singapore’s territorial waters, airspace management over southern Johor and the review of water prices under the 1962 Water Agreement.

These issues were different from the dispute over Pedra Branca, which Mr Wong noted ended amicably after Malaysia withdrew its applications two weeks before a scheduled hearing at the International Court of Justice.

“We, as Singaporeans, have grown up with the mantra that Singapore as a small nation-state has no hinterland and is dependent on trade and human connections to thrive,” he said.

“Singapore needs to build and manage its network of relations with other states and law is an important tool which enables us as a small state to do so.”

On the domestic front, Mr Wong said the AGC also had to work on issues relating to cybersecurity and data sharing.

He cited the Public Sector (Governance) Act drafted by the AGC and passed into law last year that introduced a data sharing regime among different government agencies. The AGC also worked on the Cybersecurity Act and led evidence in the SingHealth Committee of Inquiry.

In addition, it helped the Government to update, improve and refine existing social policies, with Mr Wong pointing to the enactment of the Vulnerable Adults Act to further protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or self-neglect.

INCREASING MANPOWER

The AGC is not in the position to “reject work” from government agencies as that would affect “national objectives”, said Mr Wong, pointing out that there has been a government-wide increase in demand for its legal services.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, an AGC spokesperson said that the volume and complexity of the legal work handled has increased significantly over the past five years. For instance, the number of civil hearings attended by the AGC now has increased by almost 70 per cent as compared with 2013.

Within the same five-year period, the number of concluded High Court and Court of Appeal criminal cases increased by more than twofold, while that for Magistrate’s Appeals increased by about 70 per cent.

Legislative work has also increased, with the number of bills rising by 167 per cent since the 2013 financial year.

As such, Mr Wong said that AGC will increase its headcount for the next five fiscal years. The new hires will mostly be legal officers, said Mr Wong without providing further details. The AGC was also unable to give a projection of the manpower increase.

According to past Budget reports, AGC’s manpower strength has grown from 565 in 2016 to 594 in 2017. The estimated headcount for 2018 was 597.

“This will allow us to spread out the workload among more officers, allowing our officers the breathing room that is needed to concentrate on delivering quality work for the benefit of our clients, and for Singapore,” said Mr Wong, adding that the AGC would also acquire more office space to accommodate the additional staff.

EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE

Pointing to the law that further protects vulnerable adults as an example of the AGC being “guardians of the public’s interest”, Mr Wong said he has instructed officers to “take a strong stand against those who prey on the weakest in our society”. These include the elderly, minors and domestic workers.

Nevertheless, it is important for AGC’s officers to “live and breathe the principle of even-handed justice”, he stressed. Creating winner and loser categories would be to lose sight of the bigger picture, he added.

The goal of public prosecutors, said Mr Wong, is not “to win every case and ask for the highest sentence, but rather, we are to protect the public interest and ensure that a convicted offender receives a just sentence”. He noted: “This means that sentences must be fair to the offender. We must always bear in mind that the accused is not our adversary.”

The AGC will also continue to invest in technology so that its officers spend more time delivering quality work and less on administration matters, said Mr Wong. It is rolling out an “intelligent workspace” this year, which includes providing officers with a personal dashboard to monitor their work and automated prompts of timelines.