Pro Bono Services
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Launched in 2007, and incorporated in 2017 as a company limited by guarantee, Law Society Pro Bono Services (“LSPBS”) is a registered charity with an Institution of a Public Character (“IPC”) status.
LSPBS seeks to provide pro bono legal assistance to the community and to organisations in Singapore serving the needy and disadvantaged. Its primary mission of ensuing access to justice for all is embodied in the following key initiatives.
For more information, visit the Law Society Pro Bono Services’ website.
Law Awareness
Bringing the law to the man on the street, by teaching rights and responsibilities under the law, through talks, publications and partnerships with organisations for their members and beneficiaries.
Community Legal Clinics
This is a free of charge, one-on-one consult and basic legal advice for personal matters.
Criminal Legal Aid Scheme
This is pro bono representation for needy accused persons who are unable to afford a lawyer, and are facing non-capital charges in a Singapore court, regardless of nationality.
Assist NPOs
This is building capacity in the non-profit, charitable and social enterprise sector by matching community organisations with a volunteer lawyer for pro bono corporate legal advice.
Ad Hoc Pro Bono Assessment Scheme
This is pro bono representation to litigants who fall outside existing legal aid schemes, but require assistance due to exceptional circumstances.
Know your rights
Since 2012, the Law Society’s Criminal Practice Committee began work on a “Pamphlet of Rights” (“Pamphlet”) for members of the public. The idea was to provide basic information in a condensed and ‘simple to understand’ form to the public on the relevant rights a person has when being questioned by the police and the process they should expect during investigations.
This is a ground breaking piece of document in Singapore.
The Pamphlet is a result of collaborative efforts and engagement with various stakeholders in criminal justice system like AGC and MHA with the constant and strong support from the Ministry of Law. The Pamphlet is being distributed to community clubs and police stations around the country where it will soon be made available to members of the public. The Pamphlet will now be made available in police stations to persons who are arrested or brought in for questioning. The Law Society hopes to make it available in as many public locations as possible.
This Pamphlet is important and necessary because criminal lawyers recognise that information about legal rights during investigations may not be easy for members of the public to find or understand without the assistance of lawyers.
The Law Society is extremely pleased to be able to bring this Pamphlet to the public in Singapore now and hopes that this community centric project will enhance access to information and increase channels for access to justice for members of the public.
The pamphlet was updated recently in 2019.
Soft copies of the latest version of the pamphlet in each of the four official languages can be downloaded here: English, Chinese, Malay & Tamil.
