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SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Law is studying the details and feasibility of the creation of a Public Defender’s Office, under which the government employs lawyers to defend people with financial problems facing criminal cases based on evidence of merit and adequate means. .
During a ministerial statement on the high-profile acquittal of former domestic worker Parti Liyani, Internal Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said the office’s main consideration would be to “ensure that those who cannot afford lawyers can access to justice the situation becomes fiscally difficult for the taxpayer ”.
Currently, the Criminal Legal Assistance Plan of the Lawyers’ Society (CLAS) provides legal assistance to defendants facing crimes not punishable by the death penalty, after testing their means and merits. Covers those in the bottom 25 percent of household income.
The government pays 75 percent of CLAS’s operating costs. When the accused person is from Singapore, the money can be used to pay fees or a payment for professional services rendered nominally without official charge to his lawyer.
The remaining 25 percent comes from the Lawyers Society and private donations.
As the fees paid to CLAS attorneys are nominal, their work is effectively pro bono.
In his speech, Shanmugam took MPs briefly through public defense schemes in the UK and Hong Kong, showing how the schemes can be difficult to administer and can be costly. For example, Hong Kong spent a total of S $ 217 million on both civil and criminal legal aid in 2017. Meanwhile, some wealthy UK defendants have abused the scheme, as their assets were frozen.
“How can we better help those who cannot afford lawyers? And yet, do we make sure we don’t follow the path other countries have traveled? ” I ask.
Shanmugam said the Lawyers Society in principle supports the extension of criminal legal assistance to improve access to justice. However, he has expressed great concern about the impact on paid work, especially in small businesses.
There are about 750 attorneys practicing criminal law, and many rely heavily on lower-value legal work or criminal cases, he noted.
Meanwhile, criminal lawyers have opposed expanding the coverage of crimes eligible for CLAS aid rather than increasing the coverage of means tests.
Shanmugam said discussions will continue before a decision is made.
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