Access to Justice for the Poor: The Singapore Judiciary at Work

• Main Author: CHAN, Gary Kok Yew
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2008
• Subjects: Singapore Judiciary; Access to Justice; Comparative and Foreign Law; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/905
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This Article examines the concrete efforts and programs of the Singapore judiciary to maintain and enhance access to justice for the poor. This examination is undertaken via overlapping economic, procedural, and institutional approaches. The Article will examine three main contentions. First, that the Singapore judiciary's concrete efforts in maintaining and promoting access to justice for the poor have been fairly comprehensive and pro-active. Second, that abstract constitutional discourse on the right of access to justice and the associated rights of legal representation and legal aid are virtually absent in Singapore. Thus, the judicial practice for enhancing access to justice for the poor has, to a large extent, surpassed its constitutional rhetoric. Third, notwithstanding the concrete judicial efforts thus far, specific recommendations are made with a view to further enhancing access to justice for the poor by the Singapore judiciary.