Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-q6k6v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T06:25:14.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Access to Justice and Legal Aid in the Syariah Courts in Malaysia: A Colourful but Threadbare Patchwork System

from Part II - Comparative Perspectives on Access to Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Helena Whalen-Bridge
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Get access

Summary

Malaysia has a plural legal system in which civil non-religious law and Islamic/ Syariah law coexist and are adjudicated in different court systems. Indigent litigants with Syariah legal issues have some legal aid available, but the legal aid system is a colourful patchwork of limited assistance, with the different coloured threads being the different programmes offered by numerous organizations linked to government, professional associations, and civil society. While there is this colourful patchwork system in place, it is threadbare in the sense that it offers quite limited assistance with different prerequisites for eligibility, with the result that some people in need of legal advice and representation will not receive it. This chapter critically examines the different schemes of financial legal aid that provide access to justice, with a focus on Malaysia’s Syariah legal system. The chapter also reflects on how some structural aspects of the legal system, that is its plural and federal nature as well as the sentencing power, impact access to justice. It touches upon the contributions by lawyers as well as their professional associations to overcome these structural issues. It also reflects upon the legal and moral issues for lawyers representing criminal defendants in the Syariah criminal jurisdiction.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Role of Lawyers in Access to Justice
Asian and Comparative Perspectives
, pp. 276 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×