Justice Goh Yihan appointed Deputy Attorney-General for two-year term starting January 2025

Justice Goh Yihan, a sitting judge on Singapore’s Supreme Court, will take on the role of Deputy Attorney-General (DAG) for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2025.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) confirmed that Justice Goh will step down from his judicial role before starting this appointment, which brings the number of Deputy Attorneys-General to four.

Justice Goh will join the AGC’s senior team alongside current DAGs Lionel Yee, Tai Wei Shyong, and Ang Cheng Hock, in what marks a significant expansion of the AGC’s leadership.

The increase in DAGs began under Attorney-General Lucien Wong, who has led the AGC since 2016. Mr Wong, whose background includes extensive corporate law experience, has no prior bench or criminal law experience, a factor that has likely contributed to the need for a strong and diverse DAG team to support AGC’s prosecutorial and advisory functions.

Justice Goh’s professional background includes both academic and judicial roles. He joined the Yong Pung How School of Law at Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member in 2014 and served as dean from 2017 to 2022.

In addition to his academic work, Justice Goh has held several judicial and legal positions, including as a justices’ law clerk and assistant registrar at the Supreme Court. Appointed Senior Counsel in 2021, he has experience in finance, securities, banking, complex commercial cases, and intellectual property or information technology law.

The AGC’s expanded DAG appointments come in response to an increasing volume and complexity of legal cases, with the organisation citing a marked rise in both civil and criminal work over recent years.

Speaking at the Opening of the Legal Year 2019, Mr Wong outlined the AGC’s need for additional manpower due to significant growth in case complexity and volume, particularly in areas related to bilateral issues and government advisory work.

He said that the AGC must expand to meet its obligations as the Government’s “strategic partner,” noting that the legal demands on AGC have increased across several domains.

An AGC spokesperson at the time highlighted that, over the five years preceding 2019, civil hearing attendances had risen by nearly 70 percent compared to 2013.

Criminal cases concluded in the High Court and Court of Appeal more than doubled within the same period, while Magistrate’s Appeals increased by approximately 70 percent. The legislative workload also grew significantly, with the number of bills increasing by 167 percent since the 2013 financial year.

In response to these demands, Mr Wong announced a phased increase in AGC’s staffing over the subsequent five years, particularly for legal officers, though no specific staffing projections were provided at the time.

According to Budget reports, AGC’s manpower strength has grown steadily, from 565 in 2016 to an estimated 702 by 2023.