The Attorney-General (AG) has full discretion to decide who to prosecute, and is protected from political pressure in his role as enforcer of criminal law, said Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong.

The Government respects the AG's independence and prosecutorial discretion, he added yesterday.

Mr Tong was responding to Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim, who suggested splitting the AG's dual role as the Government's chief legal adviser and public prosecutor, such that they are two separate offices.

He noted that generations of AGs in Singapore have shown they will not shy away from taking criminals to task, no matter their standing.

As a result, there is a high level of trust in the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), he said as Parliament debated the AGC's budget.

Ms Lim (Aljunied GRC) said the two roles require that the AG behave quite differently.

As the chief legal adviser, the AG takes instructions from the Government and may have to take certain courses of action even if he does not agree, whereas as public prosecutor he has the sole authority to decide on criminal proceedings and must be fiercely independent.

She said this separation of roles should be introduced as a matter of design to pre-empt future problems even if things work now.

Acknowledging that Ms Lim's speech was about trust, Mr Tong said: "Because of the way we have built up our institutions, public confidence in our institutions is high."

Survey statistics released in 2016 found that 90 per cent of respondents said they had confidence in the AGC, he said, adding that this confidence did not develop by chance, and was the result of "prudent legal safeguards, as well as the integrity of those in the system".

Listing the safeguards, he noted that the Constitution ensures that the AG is able to "discharge both his roles as public prosecutor and as the Government's legal adviser without fear or favour".

The President and Prime Minister must also both agree on the AG's appointment under Singapore's dual-key system, he added.

This is unlike in other common law jurisdictions, such as England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand, where this is decided solely by a government minister.

In Singapore, the AG also does not hold a political office, which means he is not subject to political pressure, said Mr Tong. This is not the case in jurisdictions like Australia, making it necessary to separate the role of the AG from that of the public prosecutor, he added.

Ms Lim also suggested granting security of tenure to the public prosecutor. She proposed a longer minimum term of employment of six years, similar to that for the Auditor-General.

To this, Mr Tong said Singapore was not unique in not providing tenure to AGs. He cited other mature common law jurisdictions where public prosecutors also have pre-determined renewable terms.

But what is more important, he added, is that it is very difficult to remove the AG in Singapore.

This can be done only if the President, Prime Minister and a tribunal of three judges, including the Chief Justice, all agree that the AG is unable to discharge his duties owing to misbehaviour or infirmity.

But Ms Lim said that since an AG's term limit can be as short as two years, this means his contract can just be allowed to lapse and he can still be removed after a short time.

In response, Mr Tong said that what drives Singapore's decision "ultimately has to be output, performance, and the way in which the public retains and reposes confidence in the functions of the AG".

On this count, the AG's actions are also important, he added.

He noted that AG Lucien Wong had recently said the AG's independence "is enshrined in the Constitution and is an established rule of practice within Chambers".

Over the years, the AG has prosecuted those in high positions, including a minister of state, sitting and former MPs, and a Singapore Civil Defence Force commissioner.

He added that the Government constantly reviews Singapore's system and will not hesitate to make adjustments where appropriate.

"The public trust the AG and the broader legal system because we appoint individuals of the highest calibre and integrity, and they exercise their discretion independently," said Mr Tong. "I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the Government's fundamental commitment to, and respect for, the AG's independent exercise of prosecutorial discretion, which is essential to a society governed by the rule of law."