Public defenders scheme a boon for all

The way has been paved for a Public Defender's Office (PDO), to be set up by the year end, after Parliament this month passed a Bill to establish it to provide criminal legal aid to the needy. Under the scheme, Singaporeans and permanent residents who are facing criminal charges but cannot afford a lawyer can have a full-time public defender represent them in court, if they pass a means test and a merits test. These tests are important in preventing misuse of a system that is targeted at deserving cases, as it should be. When too much latitude is given to potential beneficiaries, public trust cannot but fall in a scheme that is funded by public money after all.

In the same spirit, however, Singaporeans should welcome an office whose job it is to defend those accused by the state. Some might find this role difficult to accept. After all, why should the state seek to help defend the very people whom it has accused of a crime in the first place? Having expended financial and human resources, by way of the police and prosecutors, why should the system devote more resources to the accused so that they may argue their cases in court? The reason is that someone who is charged with an offence is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. In order to establish his innocence, and unless he is convicted for his guilt, an accused person deserves and requires equitable access to the mechanisms of justice, including the advocacy of lawyers. Since not all accused enjoy such access because of limited means, the PDO's mandate is to step in to ensure that cases are not prejudiced by want of lawyers.