Saturday, March 10, 2012

Free legal aid for those who cannot afford it


The Malaysian Bar hopes at least 40% of its members would provide free legal aid to those who are arrested or held in remand and this would be in line with the formation of the National Legal Aid Foundation (NLAF) last year.

Wonderful news indeed and a welcome assurance to anyone brought to court that there would at least get some help from the legal profession. The legal profession has always been associated with the good life as evidenced when we see the gleaming mansions and cars that is owned of some of the top legal minds in the country. They do deserve the riches in return for their work. Nevertheless, some of us could not afford the best with their high fees.

What recourse do we have? We would turn to the not so famous legal help with more reasonable fees within our limited budgets. Unfortunately, there are groups of people who cannot even afford the reasonable fees and with this latest move, at least they will have a chance to have their say in court. This approach would help to see a fairer distribution of legal help to those who can and those who cannot afford the current fees.

Image from mylawyer

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