1. Andrew Khoo Co-Chair, Human Rights Committee Bar Council Malaysia
Legal Aid in Malaysia
Andrew Khoo
Co-Chair, Human Rights Committee
Bar Council Malaysia

2. Salient points (1)
Provision of legal aid is not specifically mentioned in the Malaysian Federal Constitution.
But Federal Constitution does provide for right to be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
Constitutional provision undergirded by legislation – Criminal Procedure Code

3. Salient points (2) 4 bodies are providing legal aid.
Government – Legal Aid Department (Legal Aid Act 1971)
Professional body of lawyers - Bar Council Malaysia (Legal Profession Act 1976)
Government – Professional body cooperation - National Legal Aid Foundation (began work in April 2012)
Judiciary – death penalty matters – assigned counsel.

4. Salient points (3) 3 non-judicial legal aid programmes means tested.
Government legal aid – only selected civil or syariah matters, only for citizens. Mitigation in criminal matters – plead guilty.
Bar Council legal aid – can be both civil and criminal law matters, can be for both citizens and non-citizens (priority is for public interest issues)

5. Salient points (4)
National Legal Aid Foundation – only criminal law matters, only for citizens (but now extended to cover all children regardless of citizenship, all death penalty clemency applications regardless of citizenship)

6. Salient points (5)
Government legal aid – provided free of charge, some contribution for expenses, especially if over minimum means test threshold. Lawyers nominally remunerated.
Bar Council legal aid – provided free of charge, some contribution for expenses. Lawyers not remunerated.
National Legal Aid Foundation – scale fee
Death penalty assigned counsel scheme – scale fee

7. Effectiveness Government legal aid – no statistics
Bar Council legal aid (16 centres) – over last 7 years LACs have handled a combined total of 160,903 case files: ,527; ,318; ,104; ,562; ,381; ,822; ,189.
National Legal Aid Foundation - 156,129 case files in calendar year 2014: arrests, remands, bail applications, mitigation pleadings and hearings.

8. Limiting factors Costs/budgets (Bar Council contribution scheme)
Resources – heavily dependent on availability of lawyers (only licensed advocates and solicitors can provide legal services) – currently only approx. 1,500 lawyers
Minimum expertise (mandatory training, special experience in death penalty cases)
Coverage – maybe 75%
Police/court cooperation

9. Recommendations
Widening of the geographical coverage of the National Legal Aid Foundation
Increase in the number of participating lawyers
Extension to non-citizens (cf. AEC)
Extension to non-criminal matters
Qualitative improvements

10. Further information www.jbg.gov.my www.malaysianbar.org.my
THANK YOU