Speech on Constitution of Singapore (Amendment) Bill dealing with creation of the Judicial Service Commission

Mr Speaker, Sir, almost exactly a year ago in this House, I suggested that an independent Judicial Service Commission (JSC) be set up, amongst others, to deepen the competence of judicial officers.

This suggestion to set up the JSC is not mine alone. Several hon Members made the same suggestion in this House, both before and after me. All of us were aligned in making the request but not necessarily aligned in relation to the reasons for asking for the setting up of the JSC.

The hon Minister for Law chose his words very carefully in replying to me. He said the way our service was structured “is probably the best model for the time being”.

As hon Members know, time is elastic. If anyone were to have asked me then as to whether the Government would set up the JSC, my instinctive reply would have been, “Please do not hold your breath!”

Then, in July this year, hon Members Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Lim Biow Chuan joined me in an Adjournment Motion to call on the Government to study the feasibility to set up a separate and independent JSC to allow for deeper specialisation and ensure that the Judiciary is properly positioned for the challenges of the future.

The hon Minister for Law agreed broadly with the points we made and pithily put it as an issue of timing.

Should we retain the current structure and make incremental changes as we go along, or should we split the services now to put our country on a better footing for the future?

If the same person were to have repeated the question on whether the split would have happened after the Adjournment Motion, my response would likely be that I am hopeful it will happen sooner rather than later.

As it turned out, just three months later, we are now considering these amendments to the Constitution to create a separate JSC out of the current LSC. If these amendments are passed, the plan is to put them into effect in January 2022.

I am highlighting this chronology as it is clear to me that the Government was already considering the merits of these changes for a while and decided that now is the time to make these changes in the interest of securing of country’s future.

The Government’s approach brings to my mind what Prime Minister Lee stated during his National Day Rally speech in 2016. He asked, and I quote, “whether things could get better for Singapore after SG50. Can the best be yet to come? The answer was a resounding “yes!”

He went on to state that one thing we need, as a country, to ensure this is to be, and I quote, “blessed with a divine discontent, always not quite satisfied with what we have, always driven to do better”. These amendments we are considering reflect the spirit of “divine discontent” and “drive to do better”.

It is also in keeping with the Motion on Singapore’s Justice System passed in Parliament in November 2020 in which we affirmed the Government’s continuous efforts to build a fair and just society.

Perhaps, this explains why Singapore did well in the Pew Research Centre Report dated 21 October 2021 which conducted research in 17 advanced economies, including Singapore, to identify whether citizens in these economies want significant changes to their political system.

It is stated in the report that in every economy, except Singapore, there are larger shares of the public who want political reform but lack the confidence that reform can happen effectively as compared to those who are confident that change can occur.

Eighty-two percent of Singaporeans said that they are satisfied with the way democracy is working here, compared to an overall median of 57%. A key feature of our democracy is that real action is taken, to make changes essential to securing our future and keeping all of us united in purpose.

The significance of setting up a separate and independent JSC should not be lost on anyone in this House. Just last month, when this House was considering the FICA Bill, there were insinuations in some quarters, particularly outside this House, that the Government is bent on making itself more powerful to suppress legitimate free speech and expression amongst our people.

Since then, this Government has repealed the Sedition Act, which was introduced during the colonial times to rein in discontent against the Government and it is now moving these Constitutional amendments which will enjoy bipartisan support to create an independent JSC to oversee judicial service officers.

These are not the acts of a power-hungry government, hell-bent on entrenching itself and ignoring the wishes of the people. Fair-minded people decide not based on empty words, but on real action.

The razor-sharp focus of our Government is on securing our people’s future against the backdrop of an ever more challenging global landscape.

For the remainder of my speech, I wish to focus on the proposed reconstituted LSC. In my speech during the Adjournment Motion, I had spoken about the indelible contributions of the current LSC, using the integrated model since 1959, for which, as a nation, we owe much thanks. I have also spoken about the highly-respected judicial system that we have in Singapore and how the JSC will serve to strengthen it even more under the proposed system.

Let me start off by acknowledging the quality of the officers in the Legal Branch of the LSC, past and present.

To illustrate this point, I need only ask hon Members to recount their own legislative experience in this House.

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, we had to pass 12 wide-ranging Bills. Seven of these bills were urgent Bills which included the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill and its three subsequent amendment Bills, Supply Bills, Bills providing for Parliamentary elections and marriage solemnisation during COVID-19. Two hundred and twenty-seven pieces of COVID-19-related subsidiary legislation were also published.

We were able to do this because of, amongst others, a top-rate team in the legislative division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC). They had to be creative but meticulous, be daring but keep an eye for the minutiae of details. And all was done at double-speed.

I still recall the speech of the hon Minister for Law when he expressed his pride and appreciation for the work done by officers involved during the passing of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill. Several hon Members, including myself, joined him to express our appreciation.

This speaks of the quality and dedication of the officers we have in the legislative division headed by Ms Jeanne Lee.

The Legal Branch is replete with great examples of dedicated officers, past and present, with a strong sense of duty. I would like to mention some of them whom I have had the privilege of knowing.

The late Mr K S Rajah SC. He served in the Legal Service from 1963 to 1985. This included a stint as the longest-serving Director of the Legal Aid Bureau, which allows people of limited means with important access to civil and family justice.

The late Mr S Tiwari, who was in the Legal Service for 36 years from 1971 to 2007 when he retired. During his career, he headed MINDEF’s Legal Department and AGC’s Civil Division and later, its International Affairs Division. He was involved in numerous international negotiations representing Singapore.

Mr Daren Tang, who is currently the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). In fact, he is the first Singaporean to lead a UN Agency. The hon Minister Mr Edwin Tong described his appointment as, and I quote, “a momentous occasion for Singapore”. Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and held several positions in AGC.

Mr Mohamed Faizal Senior Counsel, Senior State Counsel of the Crime Division of AGC — he is an excellent example of how one mixes heavy duty responsibilities with regular volunteer work for our community. For his contributions to the legal profession and the community, he was awarded the Berita Harian Anugerah Jauhari 2020 award. He was also inducted as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2016.

I make these references for a purpose. We must ensure that with the split of the current LSC into a JSC and the reconstituted LSC, the reconstituted LSC should continue to attract and retain its fair share of top talent with the right set of values.

The Legal Service Officers of the Legal Branch perform vital roles in providing legal advice to the Government and playing their role in the administration of justice and helping to uphold of the rule of law in Singapore.

With the reconstituted LSC, there is an opportunity to hasten the pace of specialisation of the LSOs to keep up with the demands of their respective jobs and the ever-rising expectations of Singaporeans. May I ask the hon Minister whether plans have been made to deal with this issue? If so, I would be grateful for an outline of the efforts that will be expended on this front.

Mr Speaker, Sir, laws are unwieldy creatures. The text of the laws passed can be so turgid and formal such that many people cannot help but describe it as “gobbledegook”. But they are also such powerful forces. During the pandemic, for example, these laws make sure that workers get paid, our rents reduced and that the promises businesses made to one another can be modified easily without breaking trust. And all these, in an orderly, legitimate and predictable manner.

This could not have been done without the best legal minds at work in the public sector. This restructuring is needed, but we must do it with care. The reconstituted LSC must stand shoulder to shoulder with the JSC as twin pillars in attracting and developing the best human resource talent in the public legal sector that will continue to meet the high expectations of Singaporeans well into the future.

This will allow us to pursue our democratic dream, partnered with divine discontent, not mere dissatisfaction with the way things are, but the power to change them to the way they should be. I support the Bill.