Thursday, July 07, 2016

Need to reform the legal process

I observed that a few criminal and civil cases in Singapore took a few months of hearing.
This must be extremely wasteful of resources for the prosecution, plaintiff and defendant.

Does it really need to take so long? The case may be dragged in court due to actions or failure of actions by the lawyers.

It is strange that the lawyers who caused the delay are also the parties to benefit from the process. They are able to bill their clients for the time spent. If the case drags on longer, they can send a bigger legal bill.

There is no need for the case to drag on for long. It is time for a reform of the legal process. One approach is to set a cap on the amount of legal fees for a case. If there is a cap, it is likely that the case can be settled more quickly.

The court should also play a role in refusing to allow the lawyers to keep dragging a case for such a long time. It is wasteful of the time of the judges and the court officials.

There is one more reason why the case can be resolved more quickly today, than in the past. With modern technology, it is possible for the discovery of the facts to be completed before the court hearing. The judge only need to seek clarification of the facts and can close the hearing to give their verdict.




1 comment:

Yujuan said...

Why some legal cases drag on and on.
Let's study the high profile case of Yang Yin, just wonder who's paying Yang's legal fees, the Singapore Govt, YY's father from China, or the Chinese Embassy in Singapore.
The case is a perfect wayang show staged for Singaporean and the Chinese Embassy audience.
It's already "confirmed" YY is guilty as charged, yet the case drags on and on, our poor Govt having to dangle between pleasing citizens baying for YY's blood, and showing China that YY is getting a fair trial, with proper legal provision. Like all poorly scripted Channel 8 Chinese drama shows, you know what's the ending - YY is finally found guilty, and sentenced accordingly.
Who's the loser - the taxpayers, the longer the case drags, the higher the costs.
Wayang shows, so typically Govt style.

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