Singapore will no longer allow individuals receiving criminal legal aid to enter the nation’s casinos or access their Singapore Pools betting accounts under new rules that came into effect on 1 April.
The measure is aimed at preventing those accused of a crime from abusing the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme under the Public Defender’s Office of the Ministry of Law, which was launched in December 2022 to assess whether defendants would benefit from representation or have reasonable grounds to defend their case.
According to The Straits Times, such people will no longer be able to enter Singapore’s casinos or access their online accounts while receiving representation or within two weeks of receiving legal aid.
The media outlet quoted a spokesperson from the Ministry of Law as explaining the rule aims to “safeguard the financial situation of aid recipients, in view of their financially vulnerable circumstances.
“All existing recipients of criminal defence aid are affected by this exclusion. However, only a small number have records of visiting the casinos, jackpot machine rooms, or have an online gambling account with Singapore Pools,” they said.
The move has been welcomed by the legal fraternity, The Straits Times reports, with Invictus Law founder Josephus Tan commenting, “It doesn’t really align if the client cannot afford legal representation but can afford to buy Toto.
“After all, the public might wonder why the state is using taxpayers’ money to fund a person charged with a crime and cannot afford legal representation, but yet has money to gamble.”
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