KUALA LUMPUR - The government will hold an engagement session with stakeholders to better improve legal aid services for criminal cases and the proposal to enact a special law to provide free legal aid to the people.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the engagement session would be held, among other things, to discuss the issue and direction of legal aid services, to get input on policies related to the drafting of the Public Defender's Act and look into the need to create a Public Defender's Office.
"Through this engagement session, we hope to gather inputs and views from participants on several policy issues related to the appropriateness of creating a special act for legal aid services for criminal cases in Malaysia.
"The Malaysia Madani government places great emphasis on the continuous engagements by all stakeholders to ensure an effective system in providing legal aid services to Malaysians in need," she said in a statement today.
A Workshop on Legal Aid Services for Criminal Cases in Malaysia is being held today and tomorrow with the cooperation of the Legal Aid Department, the National Legal Aid Foundation and the Bar Council.
According to Azalina, the existing legal aid services need to be strengthened to improve the quality of services and access to justice, especially for the B40 group.
"Hence, legal aid and advisory services in criminal cases should be easily accessible to any Malaysian citizen as well as foreign national children at the stage of arrest, remand, bail application and mitigation by lawyers," she said.
Efforts to enact a special act to offer free legal aid for criminal cases were announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2023 last February. - BERNAMA