Tuesday 27 December 2016

More help for those who can’t afford lawyers in ‘high stakes’ court cases

More accused persons who cannot afford a lawyer, especially if theirs are “high stakes” cases, will get a better shot of landing one under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas), which has recently employed two more criminal lawyers with funding from the Government.

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More help for those who can’t afford lawyers in ‘high stakes’ court cases

Kelly Ng, TODAY
27 December 2016

More accused persons who cannot afford a lawyer, especially if theirs are “high stakes” cases, will get a better shot of landing one under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas), which has recently employed two more criminal lawyers with funding from the Government.

Since last year, some big law firms started seconding lawyers to the scheme for two-year terms, which had hitherto been operating with the help of volunteers. There are now six of these Clas Fellows, and about two out of three accused persons who apply for legal aid get assigned lawyers.

The rate of legal representation is now primed to improve further. Earlier this month, the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc), which administers Clas, employed two more lawyers using funding from the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) to take on more “high stakes” cases, such as those heard in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

These two Clas Advocates will also mentor the Fellows and other Clas volunteers, as well as come up with ideas to further improve access to justice.

In response to queries, Clas director Gopinath Pillai said: “The need for a more senior advocate in Clas (has always been) recognised ... The Advocates will allow for a more economical representation of the accused persons.”

In an earlier interview with TODAY, LawSoc’s immediate past president Thio Shen Yi also said the Advocates will give the Clas office a much-needed boost in numbers and experience, and will serve as “ambassadors of pro bono work” to the younger lawyers.

The inaugural Clas Advocates, Ng Shi Yang and Sadhana Rai, were appointed earlier this month for a two-year term. Mr Ng, formerly an associate at WongPartnership, was also part of the inaugural batch of Clas fellows last year. Ms Sadhana was previously an associate at Drew & Napier.

Based on the job advertisement published by the LawSoc’s Pro Bono Services Office, Clas Advocates must have no less than three years of continuous law practice experience, relevant criminal litigation experience, and an established track record as a Clas/Legal Assistance for Capital Offences counsel, or as a Clas Fellow.

Asked why the Government decided to directly sponsor Clas lawyers, a MinLaw spokesperson said: “The Government made a philosophical shift in 2013 to directly fund non-capital criminal legal aid, as we decided we should do more to provide criminal legal aid to accused persons who cannot afford legal representation ... (The Clas Advocates) will help strengthen the scheme by working alongside existing volunteer lawyers and Clas Fellows.”

Clas’ reach expanded after the Government, in 2013, pumped in a one-off S$800,000 and pledged up to S$3.5 million annually to cover operational costs, disbursements and honoraria for lawyers volunteering under Clas. The move was a significant departure from its long-held stance against directly supporting defendants in criminal cases.

Prior to this, the Clas scheme — launched in 1985 — had been privately funded through the LawSoc and goodwill donations. These efforts saw the number of accused persons receiving full legal representation triple in 2015 compared to the year before.

From January to early November this year, Clas assigned lawyers to 1,300 applicants out of 2,000 applications received, with Clas Fellows handling one-fifth of those cases.

Commenting on the latest development, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, head of the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore, welcomed the appointment of Clas Advocates, noting that it was an “expansion” of what the Government has been doing in recent years to enhance funding for criminal legal aid.

“This is a good step and there is more that the ministry can do to help the vulnerable,” said Mr Sunil, citing alleged offenders with psychiatric conditions.