Number of Applicants Who Applied for Legal Aid from 2013 to 2017

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Law for each year in the past five years, how many applicants applied for legal aid and of these applicants, how many failed at the stage of (i) the means test and (ii) the merits test.

Mr K Shanmugam: The Legal Aid Bureau provides Legal Aid, Legal Advice, and Legal Assistance (e.g. drafting of wills) to lower income Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. Legal Advice and Legal Assistance applicants only need to pass the means test, while Legal Aid applicants have to pass both the means test and the legal merits test.

The data from 2013 to 2017 for those who applied for Legal Advice and Legal Assistance is set out in the following table:

The data from 2013 to 2017 for those who applied for Legal Aid is set out in the following table:

The number of applications which went through the merits test is lower than the number of applications which passed the preliminary means test, because many applicants of Legal Aid who passed the preliminary means test subsequently withdrew their applications, became uncontactable, or were later found to be above means. Applicants with urgent cases may also have been assisted under a Provisional Grant of Aid before they went through the merits test.