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'COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED': Prof Jayakumar mingling with the legal fraternity at a farewell dinner held in his honour yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
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THE leading lights of the legal fraternity gathered last night to pay tribute to Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar's 'successful stewardship' of the Law Ministry from 1981 to 2008.
A former dean of the National University of Singapore's law faculty, he joined politics in 1980.
Appointed Minister of State (Law) a year later, he became Law Minister in 1988 - a post he held till May 1 this year when he handed the reins to former top litigator K. Shanmugam.
Leading the tributes last night was Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong who, as the attorney-general from 1992 to 2006, worked closely with Professor Jayakumar.
CJ Chan described the latter as a 'cool, calm and collected minister' and credited him for the 'sound legal infrastructure and fair and efficient legal system' that Singapore enjoys today.
Senior Counsel and former Law Society president Philip Jeyaretnam addressed the 350 guests at the Marina Mandarin Hotel on behalf of the legal profession.
He thanked the 'Prof' for his staunch support of the Law Society's work, especially in the field of pro bono services, or free legal services.
That, he said, stemmed from Prof Jayakumar's heartfelt belief in providing access to justice for all.
Mr Jeyaretnam also noted that while Prof Jayakumar did not always agree with the Law Society's point of view, 'he always respected it'.
As for Mr Shanmugam, the new law minister has asked his predecessor to continue his involvement in helping to groom local expertise in the field of international law, Prof Jayakumar disclosed.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry and Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) have set up a special study group for this purpose.
In identifying these talents, the search should not be confined to the AGC but include academia and the private sector as well, Prof Jayakumar said at a press conference in the morning, where he was asked to reflect on his time at the ministry.
'I think we should look for new Tommy Kohs for the next generation and increase the pool of people knowledgeable in international law,' he said, referring to the veteran diplomat and ambassador-at-large.
He observed that the number of situations in which Singapore needed good expertise in international law is on the rise. These spanned the gamut from bilateral issues to those involving international organisations.
One example is the ongoing negotiations on a post-Kyoto regime on climate change, which Prof Jayakumar oversees for Singapore in his role as chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on climate change.
He is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and chairs the Security Policy Review Committee.
Looking back on his career in the Law Ministry, he described the work as
'immensely satisfying', especially the time spent working with Singapore's three prime ministers on 'ground-breaking legislation'.
These included the constitutional amendments on the Elected President and Non-Constituency MPs, and the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA).
'There were hardly any precedents elsewhere in the world...and we spent many hours - the PM, my Cabinet colleagues - to look at the various options before we tabled the legislation in Parliament.'
The MRHA became law in 1990.
Since then, leaders of several countries have asked to look at the legislation, which established the Presidential Council on Religious Harmony and set out norms on matters like inflammatory speech, he said.
While the achievements of the Law Ministry may not be as visible as those of the National Development or Transport ministries, the legal system has been critical to Singapore's success, he said.
'Our legal system, law enforcement, police, judiciary, how they are competent, efficient, clean, which lead to a sense of security, safety and stability, and an expectation that laws will be enforced fairly, impartially, without corruption, these are very valuable assets for Singapore, and we must ensure that continues,'' he said.
lydia@sph.com.sg
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