Bar Council Legal Aid Centre The Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (BCLAC) was founded by the Malaysian Bar Council with the purpose of providing citizens equal opportunity for the enforcements of their fundamental right to equality before the law. It is one of two organisations in Malaysia which provide FREE legal ADVICE & REPRESENTATION, and it has branches to represent each state in Malaysia.

The BCLAC are actively involved in pro-bono work in the community, and conduct many programmes in cooperation with other organisation (e.g. All Women Action Society (AWAM), Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), Sisters-In-Islam (SIS), Tenaganita’s Migrant Workers Desk, Pink Triangle Foundation, United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)) to provide free legal advice & representation to relevant parties. The BCLAC is funded by the sole contribution of members of the Bar and cases are taken on a voluntary basis by dedicated lawyers. As such, you will appreciate that their services are limited to those who truly have no means to seek representation privately.

What happens after you walk into a LAC? The first thing that happens is that you will be interviewed to review your eligibility for their services, using the Means Test (see below). The counsellors will then review your case and provide guidance on future actions required.

If you have not brought all the required documents, the counsellors may provide preliminary advice, but will require these documents to be submitted to proceed further.

Means Test

The criteria for people who qualify for legal aid from the BCLAC are:

Applicants whose monthly income, after deduction of monthly expenses, should be: Single person RM650 Married couple (joint income) RM900

e.g. Single person Salary RM1000 p/m Monthly exp. RM450 Balance RM550 (QUALIFIED) NOTE: Monthly expenses include rental, utility bills, medical bills, personal expenses, monies given to support parents/family, etc.

When visiting the LAC, you should provide proof of income (e.g. payslip), monthly expenses (e.g. rental receipt, medical expenses etc.) and details of the case you seek help on.

What are the cases which are not covered by LAC? Note all the cases are accepted by LAC, they do not help individual on the below cases:

1. Motor Accident 2. Debt Collection 3. Defamation Conveyancing 4. Probate/ Letter of Administration 5. Any offence that carries a DEATH or LIFE SENTENCE

What if you do not qualify? Even if you do not qualify for the above, the LAC are more than happy to provide basic guidelines and directions for further action to ‘walk-in’ clients. They also hold a directory of legal firms available in the area.

They do not entertain legal queries via the telephone, to ensure the integrity of any information given.

Also, keep in mind that not all cases require legal representation. For example, for a small claims case - no legal representation is necessary. You only need to submit a form to the Magistrate Court 9, Jalan Duta (available there).

Small claims cases include all actions where the money damages claimed are not in excess of RM5,000.

Where are the LACs located? Address and contact details for LACs nationwide are found at: http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/legal_aid_centres.html

The Kuala Lumpur LAC contact is:

Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (Kuala Lumpur), 6th Floor, Wisma Kraftangan, Jalan Tun Perak, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.

Phone 03-26932072 / 26913005 Fax 03-26930527 E-mail lacklb@klbar.org.my Website www.legalaidkl.org

The Shah Alam contact is:

Bar Council Legal Aid Centre Selangor No. 41A, Jalan Bola Jaring 13/15, Section 13 40100 Shah Alam Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Phone 03-5510 7007 / 7008 Fax 03-5510 7009 Email sellac@streamyx.com