Revision of Means Test for Legal Aid
Ministry of LawSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether the means test for legal aid can be revised to support more Singaporeans facing costly matrimonial and family disputes. Minister for Law K Shanmugam responded that the Ministry of Law regularly reviews the test to ensure accessibility for lower-income individuals with meritorious cases. He highlighted that for matrimonial disputes, the income of an estranged spouse and the matrimonial property are excluded from means assessments. Additionally, the Director of Legal Aid can grant extra deductions for disposable capital in family proceedings involving children or protection orders. These measures ensure that the most vulnerable applicants are eligible for assistance while maintaining a rigorous system.
Transcript
1 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Law whether the means test for legal aid can be further revised to allow more Singaporeans to qualify for legal aid as the legal issues they face, such as matrimonial disputes and family-related legal issues, can severely compromise their personal financial ability to engage legal assistance on a commercial basis.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Ministry of Law regularly reviews the means test for civil legal aid to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to lower-income Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who cannot afford their own lawyers.
Legal aid is unlike other forms of Government social assistance which benefits the individual seeking help, as legal aid often means the state helping one party in a legal case against another Singaporean. We must, therefore, ensure that our system is rigorous in only assisting those who wish to pursue meritorious cases but cannot afford to do so.
For matrimonial disputes, the following provisions are in place to assist applicants. First, where the spouses are estranged, the Legal Aid Bureau excludes the income of the applicant's spouse when assessing the applicant's means. Second, in a divorce case, the matrimonial property would not be included in the means assessment.
Moreover, for family proceedings involving children or protection order applications between spouses or ex-spouses, the Director of Legal Aid can give an extra deduction for the disposable capital component of the means test. This ensures that the most vulnerable persons in family-related disputes are eligible for legal aid.