SINGAPORE — A new fully Government-funded public defender’s office may be set up this year, as the Ministry of Law will table a Bill in Parliament to establish such an office to provide legal aid to more vulnerable Singaporeans facing non-capital criminal charges.
This will be through raising the income limit so that more vulnerable Singaporeans can qualify for help and allowing more offences to be covered. Mr Shanmugam said that with these changes, the total caseload for criminal legal aid could increase by another 50 per cent, or even higher if the take-up rate also increases
MinLaw said it had studied the approaches adopted by 11 overseas jurisdictions including Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, two states in Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. For example, a lawyer in Ontario, Canada billed around S$160,000 between 2013 and 2016 for"travel expenses" when his office was actually close to the courts, he said.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »