CRIMINAL LEGAL AID

7 May 1994

        I refer to your report "CJ praises Singapore's fair, efficient legal system" (ST, 6 May).
        We can rightly be proud of the impartiality and efficiency of our legal system. Nevertheless, there still remains an area in our legal system that is under-developed. I refer to the lack of free legal cousel to those charged with criminal offences who ar
e too poor to engage counsel themselves. The efforts of various private organisations such as the Criminal Legal Aid Society to address this lack are commendable but inevitably insufficient in the absence of state support.
        The absence of state support for free legal cousel in such cases was highlighted  in the Forum page on 15 Mar 94. The writer pleaded eloquently for the Minister of Law to implement the Criminal Legal Aid part of the Legal Aid and Advice Act, a Part which
 has been in place since 1956. Unfortunately, no motion in that direction is apparent.
        While it basks in the afterglow of Chief Justice's praises, the legal community should remind itself of this wholly unnecessary blemish on its reputation and strive even harder to remove it. As a nation, we would be remiss indeed if we continue to turn a
 blind eye to the poor and disadvantaged among us.