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Legal Aid Act 1971 Part III — Legal aid in criminal cases

s 10–s 11 · 2 sections

Application for legal aid in criminal cases

s 10

(1) Criminal proceedings in connection with which legal aid may be given are any proceedings of a description specified in the Second Schedule. (2) The Minister may by order amend or vary the Second Schedule. (2A) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and sections 15 and 16, where the Minister is satisfied that in any particular case of hardship it is in the interests of justice to do so, he may authorize, in writing, the Director General to give legal aid in connection with any proceedings, whether or not of a description specified in the Second Schedule. (3) Any person may at any time within fourteen days after the committal under the Criminal Procedure Code [Act 593], charge or conviction before or by any court, apply in writing in the prescribed form to the judge by whom the order was made or before whom the person was charged, or to the Director General, for legal aid for his defence or for the preparation and conduct of his appeal, as the case may be. (4) Where the Public Prosecutor has lodged notice of appeal against any judgment, sentence or order pronounced by any court, the respondent may make application to the judge by whom the judgment, sentence or order was made, or to the Director General, for legal aid resisting the appeal. (5) Every application under this section shall be accompanied by a statutory declaration verifying the facts stated in the application. (6) The judge before whom the person appears on a charge shall inform such person of his right to apply for legal aid under this Part.

Free legal aid certificate

s 11

(1) Where application is made under section 10 the judge or the Director General of Legal Aid may refer the application to the Director of Social Welfare for a report on the means of the applicant. (2) If the judge or the Director General of Legal Aid is of opinion on the facts brought before him including any report by the Director of Social Welfare that the person making the application is without adequate means to obtain legal aid and that it is desirable in the interests of justice that such legal aid should be supplied, he shall certify to that effect and the Director General of Legal Aid may thereupon cause arrangements to be made for the defence of that person and payment of the expenses of all material witnesses or for the preparation and conduct of the appeal or for resisting the appeal, as the case may be. (3) Any doubt whether an applicant’s means are sufficient to enable him to obtain legal aid or whether it is desirable in the interests of justice that he should have free legal aid shall be resolved in favour of the applicant.

Back to Legal Aid Act 1971 — full text

Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.

Text as at 1 November 2013 (LOM reprint); amendments made after that date may not be incorporated. Read the official text ↗

Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).

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