V. K. Rajah


Vijaya Kumar Rajah , better known as V. K. Rajah, is a Singaporean former judicial officer. He served as Attorney-General of Singapore from 2014 to 2017 and as a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court from 2007 to 2014.

Early life

Rajah graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law in 1982 and obtained his Master of Laws from Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1986. His father, Thampore Thamby Rajah, better known as T. T. Rajah, was a leader of the former Singaporean left-wing political party Barisan Sosialis.

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 Rajah & Tann. He was also part of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law 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. 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. 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 since 1 November 2014.
Rajah served as Attorney-General of Singapore until he was succeeded by Lucien Wong 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 Lee Hsien Loong thanked him for carrying out his duties "with dynamism and commitment".