Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for Law on the response to my written question about the effect on CLAS. We look forward to receiving more detailed data about the actual effect on it. I note earlier that the Minister said that the amount that CLAS handles this year is expected to be lower, because of the coming on stream of the PDO.
Moving on to the means and merit test, I think we are in broad alignment of the principles used to decide whether or not the PDO will take on the cases. I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. The first being, whether the Minister can share a little bit of data about the capacity of the PDO, whether what levels of capacity it is operating at, given that this is a new office? And secondly, whether the Minister can give a breakdown about the cases that the PDO has rejected to take on because they did not satisfy the means test or the merits test, based on the number of applications received?
Mr K Shanmugam: On the capacity, it is chicken and egg. I mean, it depends on how many cases come up. At present, there is a certain pathway where PDO is intended to build up from last year, based on our assessment of the number of cases that are likely to come up, bearing in mind that we really do not want to go in to territory where lawyers are providing services.
We want to meet the demand, where the clients today, either by themselves or through their family, are unable to pay for lawyers to represent them. Because this is taxpayers’ money and it has got to be used judiciously. I have made that point before several times. There are a number of countries which have gone down this route and then find that they are unable to afford it. If people can afford it, they should go and pay for it.
Precisely how many cases we will take up, it is subject to how many cases apply. Today, we are not beyond our capacity and we will build up a little bit more as the case load increases. It is a balance between the well-known manpower shortage all across Singapore, including in the legal industry. The fact is that, as a result of our new approach taken a few years ago to drugs, where we no longer prosecute a drug abuser as a criminal, but send such a person to rehabilitation, that has removed a lot of cases from the criminal justice system. Because these people are now in rehabilitation and then, they are released. Even if they come back for the third time or a fourth time, as long as they only abuse drugs and they have not committed any other offence, they are no longer charged. So, the number of criminal cases have come down quite substantially.
We are a low-crime society. Crimes like these have been redefined as we take a rehabilitation approach.
With all that, we will look at it. If the number of cases go up, we will employ more people. Or if we cannot, we will explain that this is our capacity and this is what we are prepared to spend. Then, it is up to Parliament to say, “We think you ought to spend more of taxpayers’ money.” We will come and discuss that, as necessary.
In terms of the data on the types of cases which have been rejected, what I can say to the Member is that, they have been rejected not because of capacity but because they do not meet our means or merits test. If the Member wants more data on that, she can file a question and we will look it up and answer it. But no case has been turned away because we said we do not have the capacity.
Mr Speaker: Ms He.
Ms He Ting Ru: Sorry, just a quick clarification. I was not suggesting that it was because of capacity. There were actually two separate issues. Given that this is a new office, I am just curious about whether we have had overcapacity? And what are the anticipated cases, what we budgeted for and also what eventually came to pass over the last 11 to 12 months?
The second point was about the two means and merits testing, the two broad categories that the Minister mentioned earlier. I just wanted to know, as a separate issue, how many cases were actually rejected because of it? Just to clarify this point.
Mr K Shanmugam: I can look it up. If the Member files a question, I can look it up and say how many cases did not qualify under the means or merits test. If I am not wrong, I think I have given the numbers that we will build up to. This year, we have about 25 officers or so, plus minus, and we can build up as necessary. We have budgeted for building up.
Ministry of Law
7 November 2023
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3370
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 