[ad_1]
A group of law students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has created a website to help the public understand the new and evolving laws emerging from the Covid-19 situation.
The website, launched in August, provides information on topics ranging from contracts to social distancing regulations to financial aid.
It also explains guidelines in a variety of areas, from marriage and religion to sports and tourism and event-related contracts, as well as court proceedings.
It is the work of co-founders Anders Seah and Mark Tang, both 23 years old and in their third year of law school, and seven other students on the executive committee of the project known as COV-AID.
Seah, who came up with the idea for such a platform in April, said: “In the middle of Covid-19, the government was passing a lot of laws and regulations, and it was quite difficult to keep track of everything.
“It can be quite confusing for a layman to navigate through some of the regulations that are being passed. We wanted to simplify and consolidate all the information on laws and regulations, as well as government grants.”
Tang said: “The usual safe distancing measures, such as the use of masks, are well known. But others like the Covid-19 Law (Temporary Measures) can be confusing, and many people did not even know that they could rely on this Law to relief when they cannot fulfill their contractual obligation. “
Professor Alan Tan, who is a faculty advisor for the project, said the students clearly established the categories of claims covered by the Act, from event cancellations to rent and property tax allowances.
Since May, the team has spent several months wading through legal jargon to make sense of the documents for the general public. He also listened to parliamentary speeches to keep information on the site up to date as changes were made to regulations.
The team is uploading articles on the Rental Assistance Framework for Small and Medium Business Tenants who need help recovering from the impact of Covid-19.
Mr. Tang said: “It took us more than a month to summarize and simplify as it was very complex. The framework has many different components and eligibility criteria, and the way rental exemptions are implemented can be quite confusing.” .
Nearly 100 law students have contributed to the project, in areas such as research, writing, outreach, and interviews.
The website also features videos of NUS law students interviewing attorneys like family litigation attorney Malathi Das about how Covid-19 has affected different sectors.
Said Professor Tan: “It’s a good balance of not just corporate, money-oriented matters such as intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions … but also the impact of Covid-19 on society.”
So far, about 30 lawyers have been interviewed.
Professor Tan also arranged for his colleagues to write pieces on the impact of Covid-19. So far around 20 articles have been written on topics such as data protection and criminal law.
Mr. Seah and Mr. Tang said they are glad that they had the opportunity to do something meaningful during this difficult time.
“We were told that our website is being used by social workers who find it useful, and that is encouraging,” said Mr. Seah. “Sometimes we have people who leave nice comments on the website telling us that they will apply for a certain grant.”
• For more information, visit https://nus-covaid.com/
[ad_2]
