More people have received government-funded legal aid
Photo: Ministry of Law
SINGAPORE — More Singaporeans and permanent residents can qualify for, and have received, government-funded legal aid, said Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah on Friday (March 3) in response to calls from Members of Parliament to improve access to justice for the man on the street.
Speaking in Parliament during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Law (MinLaw), Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) urged the ministry to consider amending the Legal Aid and Advice Act to allow for appeals to the minister for legal aid in instances where some “truly deserving cases” fall through.
Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) asked for the measures that MinLaw was looking at to build basic legal awareness among the public. Some of his residents found themselves on the wrong side of the law and the problem was made worse when they did not know how to navigate the legal system, he noted.
Responding to these questions, Ms Indranee stressed that access to justice is extremely important. “The best laws and the best courts will be of little effect if the ordinary citizen has no access to them,” she said.
In the area of criminal law, Singaporeans can receive legal aid under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) that was launched in 1985. The enhanced scheme was launched in 2015, which is now directly funded by the Government in a significant departure from its long-held stance against directly supporting defendants in criminal cases.
Clas received 2,308 applications last year, all of whom received basic legal advice. This is more than the 1,780 applications in 2014.
In the area of civil law, she noted that the means test framework to allow persons of limited means to qualify for legal aid was last reviewed in 2013.
The updated criteria allowed about 25 per cent of Singapore citizens and permanent residents to qualify for legal aid, up from the 17 per cent previously. This meant that 300,000 more people could potentially receive such aid, she said.
Ms Indranee added that the discretion to move away from the general means test to qualify for legal aid is also available to certain groups of vulnerable individuals, such as those who are involved in certain family proceedings.
“We will continue to review and update the means test framework and qualifying criteria to ensure access to justice for people who cannot afford to hire their own lawyer,” she added.
On community justice, Ms Indranee also gave an update on the Protection from Harassment Act, where 268 applications for protection orders had been filed since the Act took effect in 2014. These were applications made by victims of sexual, workplace and online harassment, and 96 of such orders were granted.
To strengthen the legal industry, Law Minister K Shanmugam said his ministry will support law firms here in adopting technology.
Earlier this week, a Tech Start for Law scheme was launched to cover up to 70 per cent of the costs of adopting basic technology products in small- and medium-sized law firms.
The ministry is also working with the Singapore Academy of Law, LawSoc, the courts and a number of economic agencies on several other aspects relating to technology, including the feasibility of online dispute resolution.
“The legal profession and the private sector have to come into that partnership, embrace the changes, grasp the opportunities — some of it is disruptive,” said Mr Shanmugam.
The Ministry of Law is expected to spend S$523.39 million this financial year, is 6.4 per cent less than the S$558.96 million it spent last year.
Some of what the ministry will spend on:
- About S$7.54 million will be used to fund its legal aid programme. The programme provides legal aid, assistance and advice to persons of limited means on a range of civil matters
- Another S$1.53 million will be spent on providing community mediation services to the public and promoting mediation as a preferred means of dispute resolution
