Public funds appropriated through Samoa’s Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration for legal aid has nearly doubled for the financial year 2022/2023.
According to budget figures for MJCA, $450,000 tālā has been passed; an increase of $200,000 tālā from the 2021/2022 financial year budget.
The assistance has been increased due to the high demand from members of the public who are unable to afford court fees. This was the sole purpose of the funding, according to the Parliamentary Finance Committee report.
The report also noted that an allocation of $325,543 tālā for surveying of traditional boundaries of Atua, was discovered to actually be for survey work on Savai’i.
The Community Law Center, established by law in 2015, was designed to provide free legal services to citizens by strengthening and improving public access to legal services.
Samoa Observer reports that, in January 2019, an amendment was tabled in Parliament by the former government to restrict the Community Law Center to provide legal aid only to defendants charged with criminal offenses.
