Vijaya Kumar Rajah (born 14 January 1957) is a Singaporean lawyer who served as the eighth

attorney-general of Singapore The attorney-general of Singapore is the public prosecutor of the Republic of Singapore and legal adviser to the Government of Singapore. The attorney-general is the head of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), whose staff carries out the f ...

between 2014 and 2017. Prior to his appointment as attorney-general, he served as a judge of the

Court of Appeal of Singapore The Court of Appeal of Singapore is the highest court in the judicial system of Singapore. It is the upper division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the lower being the High Court (which since 2021 has itself been sub-divided into a Gener ...

between 2007 and 2014, and a judge of the

High Court of Singapore The High Court of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper division being the Court of Appeal of Singapore, Court of Appeal. The High Court consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore, chief justice and the ju ...

between 2004 and 2007.

Early life

Rajah was born in Singapore on 14 January 1957. His father was Thampore Thamby Rajah, better known as T. T. Rajah, a leader of

Barisan Sosialis Barisan Sosialis (BS), also known as the Socialist Front, is a defunct left-wing political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and was officially registered on 13 August 1961 by the leftist faction of the People's Action Party (PA ...

, and founder of one of the "Big Four" law firms in Singapore,

Rajah & Tann Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP is a Singaporean law firm with affiliate offices in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Founded in 1976, the firm is regarded as one of the Big Four law firms in Sin ...

. Rajah graduated from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree in 1982. He went on to complete a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

with first class degree at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

in 1986..

Career

Rajah was among the first batch of lawyers in Singapore to be appointed Senior Counsel in 1997, and was once the managing partner of law firm

. He was also part of the

National University of Singapore Faculty of Law The National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (NUS Law) is Singapore's oldest law school. NUS Law was initially established in 1956 as the Department of Law in the University of Malaya, and subsequently, University of Singapore. After its ...

moot team which won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in 1982, a first for the university. The other members of the team were Davinder Singh, Jimmy Yim and

Steven Chong Steven Chong Horng Siong (born 22 September 1957) is a Singaporean jurist who has been serving as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Singapore since 2017. He had previously served as the seventh attorney-general of Singapore between 2012 and ...

. 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. One of the cases presided by Rajah as a High Court judge was the 2006 case of Constance Chee Cheong Hin, a schizophrenic who was charged with throwing a girl off her HDB block and causing the death of four-year-old Sindee Neo. Chee was found guilty of manslaughter and kidnapping and although the prosecution sought a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

for Chee, Rajah sentenced Chee to thirteen years in jail after he duly considered that Chee had strong familial support and her condition would improve as along as she consistently adhere to medical treatment while in prison. 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. Rajah has been a Director at

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...

since 1 November 2014. Rajah served as

Attorney-General of Singapore The attorney-general of Singapore is the public prosecutor of the Republic of Singapore and legal adviser to the Government of Singapore. The attorney-general is the head of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), whose staff carries out the f ...

until he was succeeded by

Lucien Wong Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai (born October 1953) is a Singaporean lawyer who has been serving as the ninth attorney-general of Singapore since 2017. A former corporate lawyer, Wong was the chairman and a senior partner of Allen & Gledhill, as well ...

on 14 January 2017. 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 A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

thanked him for carrying out his duties "with dynamism and commitment". In 2021, Rajah was appointed Vice-President of the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration. Mr. V. K. Rajah is also the Chair Professor of 'Chair on International Commercial Arbitration and Investment treaty Arbitration', instituted at NLUD by Justice Indu Malhotra, former Judge, Supreme Court of India.

References

External links

*. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajah, VK 1957 births Living people Anglo-Chinese School alumni National University of Singapore alumni Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Singaporean Hindus Singaporean judges of appeal Attorneys-general of Singapore Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean Senior Counsel 20th-century Singaporean lawyers 21st-century Singaporean judges