FREE legal aid will be given to all people charged in court come November, said Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
The Attorney-General said the National Legal Aid Foundation was looking at providing free legal aid throughout the country.
Abdul Gani, who is foundation chairman, welcomed the move by the Government to introduce free legal aid for everyone charged in court.
“As far as I know, the Government is committed to making this happen. This move goes a long way for the citizens,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced when tabling the Budget that the Government was committed to ensuring that no accused person was denied legal representation by setting aside an additional RM10mil for this.
This brings the total sum provided to RM15mil.
He had said that currently, 80% of those accused in criminal cases appeared in court without legal representation due to high legal costs.
In applauding the move, Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee described the Government as “walking the talk on access to justice”.
However, lawyer Latheefa Koya said the RM15mil allocation would not be enough to provide free legal aid throughout the country.
“It is way below the actual cost if we assume a lawyer would take a nominal sum of RM1,000 per case. That would be more or less 1,000 cases a month.
“A thousand cases each month is a low figure because we are talking about hundreds of cases being brought to both the magistrate and Sessions courts daily,” she said.
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International Malaysia Law Conference (26 to 28 Sept 2012) Hurry up! The countdown continues and the current promotion rate ends 30 June 2012. Don't miss what is going to be the best conference in the region! On top of that, if you sign up with 5 or more people from the same organisation, we will give you a 10% group discount. Click on the link above to register.
Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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