Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) intends to learn from the highly specialised work practices of Swiss prosecutors to produce top-notch work under time pressure.

"And notably, without having to work weekends!" quipped Attorney-General V. K. Rajah yesterday in his prefacing remarks to a lecture by Switzerland's Attorney-General Michael Lauber. "We are moving in that direction and I am confident that in good time our efforts will yield the benefits of even greater productivity and efficiency."

He added that Singapore, like Switzerland, has "had to keep an unrelenting focus on efficiency, competitiveness and the rule of law".

He said: "We have also maintained an open and global outlook. It is no wonder that Singapore desires to learn more from Switzerland in many areas, ranging from innovation to human capital development to sustainability."

The inaugural AG's Lecture is part of a series aimed at providing a platform for thought leaders in law and other disciplines to share experiences and insights with Singapore's legal community.

"We are keenly aware that in order to continually serve Singapore better, we have to remain a vital and constantly learning organisation that is ever mindful of developments taking place all around us," said Mr Rajah.

Mr Lauber in his lecture stressed that global cooperation was important to succeed in prosecuting cross-jurisdictional cases.

About 350 participants attended the lecture. They included judges, lawyers, senior officers from enforcement agencies and South-east Asian AGC counterparts.

The lecture launched the AGC's 150th anniversary celebrations, and the occasion will be marked with a series of events from now through the rest of next year.

K. C. Vijayan