SINGAPORE: Up to 1,000 more Singaporeans and permanent residents are expected to get access to civil legal aid when the income threshold is raised later this year.
The per capita household income threshold for civil legal aid will go up from S$1,050 (US$850) to S$1,650, Law Minister Edwin Tong said in parliament on Monday (Mar 2) as he laid out the Ministry of Law’s spending plans for the coming year.
Currently, about half of the litigants for civil matters within the expanded income percentile range remain unrepresented, said the ministry.
The threshold for bank savings and non-Central Provident Fund investments will also be increased from S$10,000 to S$12,000 for both civil legal aid and criminal defence aid.
