13 minutes
KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council has been urged to initiate efforts to come up with new legislation to help the underprivileged who need legal representation but cannot afford it.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said he was confident that a Legal Aid Bill would receive the required support in Parliament.
“It is unacceptable that the poor and the marginalised cannot afford to pay for legal representation,” he said at the opening a the new premises of the Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre, here today.
Thomas noted that the legal aid centre had already helped more than 31,000 people. “With the new premises, it is hoped that it will be able to provide assistance to more people,” he added.
Bar Council president Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said a Legal Aid Bill had already been drafted but it needed to be updated.
He said the Bar started work on the draft in 2008, just before the National Legal Aid Foundation was set up.
He said an Act of Parliament would provide a proper foundation and budget for those providing legal aid.
“With an Act all those involved will have to report to Parliament unlike the foundation which now answers to a board of directors,” Abdul Fareed said.
He said an Act will define who could seek help and how they could get it.
He said the new legal aid centre has 10 staff to help those looking for assistance.
