1. Overview on Legal Aid in Singapore CONFIDENTIAL 1 ©2011 MinLaw. All Rights Reserved Louis Ng Counsel for Parliamentary Affairs Ministry of Law 13 August 2015

2. “We may have the best laws, the best courts and the best system, but all that would be lost if they cannot be accessed by persons in need” Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah at Second Reading of Legal Aid and Advice (Amd) Bill 2013

3. Overview of Legal Aid Facilitating Access to Justice Legal Aid in Civil Cases Legal Aid in Criminal Cases

4. Facilitating Access to Justice Availability of Information for Litigants State Courts’ website:

5. Facilitating Access to Justice Availability of Information for Litigants State Courts’ website:

6. Facilitating Access to Justice Have introduced simplified processes in three areas: Family Justice Act 2014 Simplified and streamlined court process Protection from Harassment Bill 2014 Simplified court procedures and court forms for obtaining Protection Orders Community Disputes Resolution Bill 2015 Default: No legal representation Simplified Procedures

7. Civil Legal Aid Administered by Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) LAB provides: Legal Advice Legal Assistance Legal Aid Means Test Merits Test Co-Payment

8. Criminal Legal Aid For non-capital cases Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (“CLAS”) Administered by Law Society, funded by Ministry of Law Subject to means test and merits test For capital cases Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (“LASCO”) For all persons facing capital criminal charges No means test or other eligibility criteria Two counsel per case.

9. References Statutes: http://statutes.agc.gov.sghttp://statutes.agc.gov.sg Parliament Hansard: available on http://www.parliament.gov.sg/ http://www.parliament.gov.sg/ Ministry of Law website: http://www.mlaw.gov.sg/http://www.mlaw.gov.sg/

10. Thank you!