[softy54534]

I was shocked by the figures. I am sure many suspected this in view of the severity and disparity of sentences dished out in recent years. Well here it is straight from the horse's mouth.


| Singapore | Justice centre to aid the self-represented



SINGAPORE - More help will be available for those representing themselves in court when the new Community Justice Centre (CJC) opens in the fourth quarter of this year at the Subordinate Courts, providing a one-stop hub for unrepresented litigants needing support at no cost.

This comes as statistics from the past three years showed a growing "sizeable number" of defendants and respondents without legal representation.

At the Family Court, more than 96 per cent of applicants and more than 99 per cent of respondents for maintenance and personal protection orders were unrepresented. Of divorce cases, 80 per cent involved defendants without legal representation.

In the Criminal Courts, more than one-third of accused persons, many of whom face charges for serious offences, were unrepresented during pre-trial stages, as were half the defendants in the Community Court.

The CJC is a joint community partnership between the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Law, the Subordinate Courts, the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation and The Law Society of Singapore to streamline resources for Litigants-in Person (LIPs).

The centre will help to simplify court processes so LIPs will not be disadvantaged in not being able to effectively participate in court proceedings, and end up coming away from a court case "with a sense of grievance that the justice system has ignored them", said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong yesterday at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the CJC.

Some of these LIPs "are victims of poverty, exacerbated by language barriers and limited means", added CJ Chan, who is the patron of the centre.

A 2010 study on LIPs had found that 80 per cent of the 600 respondents emphasised the need for more information on court procedures and access to some form of legal advice.

The CJC will also be able to help those needing practical and emotional support.

For instance, volunteers will provide moral support under its Lay Assistance Scheme, and the centre can help out on practical issues such as looking for temporary housing.

The existing Helping to Empower Litigants-in-Person centre at the Subordinate Courts, which provides LIPs with information on court jurisdiction and procedures, court forms and legal applications and referrals to legal clinics and relevant community programmes, will be integrated into the CJC.

The Tan Chin Tuan Foundation will provide seed funding of S$250,000 annually for the centre for the first three years, and the centre will be manned by volunteers.

[Paul Bunyan]

How can that be? Singaporeans are so rich. Singapore has the largest smartphone user base per capita, you know?

Singapore No. 2 worldwide in tablet craze, 31% ownership

Singaporeans just cannot say no to the latest tech gadgets. The nation not only tops the world with the greatest proportion of Internet users owning smartphones, but also ranks second when it comes to the tablet computer.

Three in four here have a smartphone and almost one in three has a tablet, says a global study by Swedish telco equipment maker Ericsson, which released such data for the first time on Monday....

[LottiFurmann]

free legal aid is a god send for those who cant afford it
but the reality is that most cases will require a lawyer who is way up there in terms of skill in finding loop holes to circumvent etc , and those lawyers don't ever seem to do pro bono work

when my mother is dead, and her "estate" decides to sue me, the "estate" will have millions to pay a pig and so its a given that i will "lose"


If my familee's actions are so honorable,
no need to get a lawyer to put a gag order on me
so that you can use your millions to keep suing me

[LottiFurmann]

Look at how rich Singaporeans are

[LottiFurmann]

Look at how rich Singaporeans are

could be a bunch of tourists....

[LottiFurmann]

Looks like lawyers going to have to eat grass soon.

[Drugmachine]

Local lawyers,are charging way too much, that's the problem

[S.T.D.]

could be a bunch of tourists....

The hard truth that I'm trying to convey is that you can't tell how rich a people are just by looking at their conspicuous consumption. Just look at the Japanese, for instance. On a per capita basis, they spend twice as much on luxury goods than the Americans. Yet, the GDP per capita of America is higher than Japan. Their entire economy is nearly 3 times larger. Their number of billionaires are approximately 20 times that of Japan. Don't be beguiled by the long queues for Iphones and Louis Vuitton. Singaporeans are no more than glorified slaves and prostitutes

[Paul Bunyan]

Local lawyers,are charging way too much, that's the problem

They learnt from the best lawyer of the land, need to point WHO?

[Beerinkol]

The hard truth that I'm trying to convey is that you can't tell how rich a people are just by looking at their conspicuous consumption. Just look at the Japanese, for instance. On a per capita basis, they spend twice as much on luxury goods than the Americans. Yet, the GDP per capita of America is higher than Japan. Their entire economy is nearly 3 times larger. Their number of billionaires are approximately 20 times that of Japan. Don't be beguiled by the long queues for Iphones and Louis Vuitton. Singaporeans are no more than glorified slaves and prostitutes

good point

[Big A]

They learnt from the best lawyer of the land, need to point WHO?

Okay, I admit. I'm the best

[Big A]

Local lawyers,are charging way too much, that's the problem

Not true.

Lawyers in other jurisdictions like Hong Kong, China and Indonesia charge more than Singapore lawyers.

[Slonopotam845]

Not true.

Lawyers in other jurisdictions like Hong Kong, China and Indonesia charge more than Singapore lawyers.

Lawyers are hardly needed in these countries. If there's abuse of power, no lawyer can help you.

In Singapore, the problem is with the laws, not the lawyers.

[softy54534]

Actually not true. Application of law is no nonsence in Singapore. Judges are sharp and smart. Its very difficult for lawyers to try to be smart.
It actually makes sense to represent yourself.

[Fegasderty]

Actually not true. Application of law is no nonsence in Singapore. Judges are sharp and smart. Its very difficult for lawyers to try to be smart.
It actually makes sense to represent yourself.

I am SURPRISE Kinana Dog is BARKING here about Law !

LOL

[Ifroham4]

Actually not true. Application of law is no nonsence in Singapore. Judges are sharp and smart. Its very difficult for lawyers to try to be smart.
It actually makes sense to represent yourself.

what u said is not true. in singapore, different type of verdicts can be given to the same offence because of the presence of a lawyer. find one day u free and go sub court, look for those traffic offences, normally the court group the same type of offenders together and those without lawyers normally are slapped with a longer stay in changi resort plus a higher fine while those with lawyers only fined a smaller amount.

[softy54534]

I've been there before bro. Lawyers make no diff to the judge. Those people who hired lawyers for traffic offenses are silly.

[HedgeYourBets]

Aiyah Kinana...why u never study harder to become lawyer tat u so desperately wld like to be...then u can be the gd samaritan lawyer...unfortunately u dont make the grade...so stick to yr security biz n stop trying to act like a wannabe lawyer...

Local lawyers,are charging way too much, that's the problem

[Raj_Copi_Jin]

Aiyah Kinana...why u never study harder to become lawyer tat u so desperately wld like to be...then u can be the gd samaritan lawyer...unfortunately u dont make the grade...so stick to yr security biz n stop trying to act like a wannabe lawyer...

With his IQ, he would have thought the S-papers stands for Sex papers

[TorryJens]

U called to which bar Kinana?...bar at desker rd is it?...stop being a wannabe lawyer n stick to yr security biz Kinna...oh yes also pls continue to 'serve' the gd pple of hougang who wont forget to give yr lot another big tight slap in the face at the next GE...

I've been there before bro. Lawyers make no diff to the judge. Those people who hired lawyers for traffic offenses are silly.