Friday July 30, 2010
Legal aid for those in need
KUALA LUMPUR: A Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) is expected to be set up by end of the year to effectively provide aid to those in need of legal representation.
Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan said the Prime Minister was keen on the LAF which was now in the final stages of being established.
He said the LAF would serve more people, including providing voluntary legal services at police stations, helping those in remand, conducting bail applications and appeals, with lawyers being paid a nominal fee.
Legal matters: Kirby (centre) with Ragunath (left) and Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court Sandile Ngcobo at the conference in Kuala Lumpur Thursday. He said the Bar’s current legal aid scheme handled 40,000 cases a year, but it still did not include the 80% who were unrepresented in criminal cases because they did not have money.
“The constitutional right to legal representation is meaningless if one cannot access it due to lack of means,” he said at a press conference at the 15th Malaysian Law Conference yesterday.
Over 450 local and foreign delegates are attending the three-day the conference themed “Malaysia: Extending Frontiers, Widening Horizons”.
Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Government was ready to pump in RM5mil into the LAF.
The independent body’s members would include retired judges and Bar Council members. Later, in his keynote address “Rule of Law,” former Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby said the law must be equally applied to all, protect fundamental human rights and safeguard the principles of justice for all groups.
“The rule of law is important although the World Cup, the latest cricket scores and the current movies and songs are more likely to be on the lips of citizens at work and at play.”
However, he said, the rule of law was not enough if justice of law was not the top priority.
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