Singapore

• Main Author: EUGENE, Tan K. B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Legal aid; government policy; Singapore; Civil Legal Aid; Legal Aid Bureau; Asian Studies; Civil Procedure; Criminal Procedure; Legal Profession
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3653; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/5611/viewcontent/Singapore_AICHR_Thematic_Study_on_Legal_Aid_pvoa.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The Singapore Government recognises and is committed to legal aid as an integral part of access to justice. Sixty years ago in 1958, Singapore was the first country in Southeast Asia to enact a legal aid scheme, which provided for the establishment of the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) to provide civil legal aid to persons of limited means. Over the course of independent Singapore’s history, legal aid as part of the overall access to justice has broadened significantly. Members of Parliament make regular calls for more people to qualify and receive government-funded legal aid. The government regards access to justice as being extremely important, and the public debate often centres on how to improve access to justice. While access to justice is often understood in terms of access to the courts and affordability of legal services, access to justice in Singapore is conceived in a broader and more nuanced context. This includes accessing and achieving justice through various means, including consensual outcomes that are acceptable to the parties in a dispute and reached within or without the court system.