MR Nguyen hopes new streamlined procedures mean there will never be another Warwick Reid scandal.

'I hope to God it doesn't happen again. I can't guarantee it won't happen again. But there is closer monitoring of cases,' he said.

'We avoid the situation of one person making a decision. There is widespread consultation between the counsel in charge of the case, the directorate-counsel in charge of that section, the deputy director, myself and the Attorney-General.' He said there was no rift between locals and expatriates in the department and morale was high, even among those expats whose contracts were not being renewed to make way for locals.