SINGAPORE ‘One dollar lawyers’ for those without advice in Singapore

During his visit, Pope Francis spoke of the urgency of not leaving anyone behind, in the shadow of the great skyscrapers of Southeast Asia. In the city-state, this commitment has a significant face in the experience of “Pro Bono SG”, a group of professionals who work free of charge to serve people who cannot afford legal counsel. They also overcome some widespread prejudices in a society that exalts rigor.

Singapore () – In his address to the Singaporean authorities a few days ago, while praising the great goals achieved by the city-state, Pope Francis called on them to remain on high alert against the risk of progress that excludes the marginalised. For people living at the great crossroads of South-East Asia, this commitment translates into several very concrete challenges. One of them is that the less privileged are deprived, for economic reasons, of the possibility of accessing legal defence. A local organisation, Pro Bono SG, has been operating on this border for a decade. It was founded by a few lawyers with the aim of offering practically free legal advice to people who would otherwise not be able to access it. The initiative also aims to overcome the mistrust of those who often live on the margins and the resistance of a society that is not very tolerant of those who deviate from its rules.

The founders – young lawyers who decided to take a philanthropic turn in their careers ten years ago – have been joined over time by other recent graduates. For some, this is a temporary decision, for others, a concrete opportunity to make their profession an ethical choice. The clients are, above all, people who cannot afford legal advice or cannot access it for various reasons. Their activity ranges from criminal law to civil law and family law. They are often sought after as duty-free lawyers and this has earned them the nickname “one-dollar lawyers” (in Singapore) because at one time that was what it cost lawyers to register as advocates with the Legal Advice Bureau.

However, the growing popularity of Pro Bono SG is still faced with a prejudice of low professionalism, of not taking into account the responsibility that lawyers have before the Court and their profession when they are defending a case, which constitutes a first obstacle to accessing “potential clients”. The other obstacle they must face is the discomfort, if not the open hostility, of those who do not accept their commitment to defend in particularly thorny cases, referring to situations that public opinion values ​​negatively and whose alleged perpetrators are considered a priori not worthy of legal protection. For example, in cases of sexual crimes against minors or the murder of relatives. Or cases related to the rights of illegal immigrants or foreign workers.

This has resulted in attacks on the group or its individual members, particularly on social media, to which they respond by reiterating that their aim is to defend those who need it most at this time, without prejudice. This is certainly an initiative that goes against the grain, or at least is innovative for the reality of Singapore. This is also confirmed by the decision to have one of their offices in two containers located on the grounds of a temple in the Hougang area.