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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE |
The second half of May was tremendously busy for the Society, but also wonderfully successful. The Bench & Bar Games took place, and the Singapore Bench & Bar carried off the Judge’s Cup. We then hosted the LAWASIA Children and the Law Conference, which won huge plaudits from participants, and was graced by an insightful speech by the Honourable Justice Lai Siu Chiu about the growing judicial inclination towards joint custody. This conference happened at the same time as Mass Call, and our Young Lawyers’ Committee organised a very successful reception immediately following call, as well as what I understand was a pretty wild party in the evening.
The second half of the year threatens to maintain the same frenetic pace. An important reason for this is the schedule of events planned to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme or CLAS, as it has come to be known. CLAS grew out of the realisation that there was in Singapore a large number of accused persons who were unable to afford legal representation. Statistical analysis also showed that unrepresented accused persons had a significantly lower chance of acquittal than those who had legal representation. The record of CLAS volunteers since the scheme began has borne this out. At a policy level, Council has marked the 20th Anniversary with an upward revision of the means test, in the hope that we can help more people. As for events, the annual Dinner and Dance, to be held on 3 September 2005, will be part of a drive to raise funds. This is in addition to the Charity Golf Tournament, which will take place on 2 October 2005.
I do hope that members will be moved to offer extra support — over and above the usual — for CLAS this year. For the Dinner and Dance, we have decided on a concept of gold and silver tables that can be purchased at suitable premiums, with the premium of course going to CLAS. We hope that there will be good support from within the profession, but we will also sell these tables to certain organisations outside the legal profession. The idea is to give a boost to CLAS funds and ease some of the mad yearly scramble to raise money. We also intend to honour the original prime movers of CLAS. Apart from all these worthy causes, we want it to be a fun evening. Indeed, it truly promises to be a memorable and enjoyable occasion.
I have mentioned how CLAS began in response to the problem of many accused persons going unrepresented. The profession has through extraordinary effort alleviated this problem, but not eliminated it. At times, it has been a real struggle to raise funds to administer the scheme. All too often the response is either ‘why spend my charity dollar on criminals?’ or ‘why doesn’t the legal profession foot the entire cost itself?’ But with perseverance we have achieved a great deal in at least reducing the size of the problem.
Today, similar problems exist in our Civil and Family Courts. Many litigants are unable to afford legal representation, but earn too much to qualify for legal aid from the state under current schemes. It is a social problem that many are unable to have the assistance of a lawyer. However, solving this problem would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the profession acting on its own.
If it is accepted that legal aid addresses a social need, then one would expect this to be at least in part the responsibility of government. Perhaps it is time for comprehensive study to be done of this issue, and thoroughgoing solutions, underpinned by government, sought. Is it not possible for publicly funded legal aid to reach more litigants and accused persons in need, without spiralling costs to the state?
Nonetheless, even though its reach is not complete, CLAS is something we can be proud of. It demonstrates in action the collective public-spiritedness of the profession. It exemplifies one of the virtues of our profession — that we are ready to defend those at the margins of society. Let’s celebrate this year.
Philip
Jeyaretnam, SC
President
The Law Society
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