‘Human face of justice’: Law charity Pro Bono SG expands to help more in need like migrant workers

Alone in a foreign land, a migrant worker charged with stealing copper wires did not know who would defend him in court.

Walking into the new Migrant Workers’ Law Centre (MWLC) along Serangoon Road in April, he met pro bono lawyer Nur Shukrina.

In basic English and Tamil, he said he had only acted as a lookout in the crime and was worried about how imprisonment would affect his family. Eventually, Ms Shukrina secured a reduced jail term of 10 weeks for him.

She said: “He was very grateful for the support and guidance throughout the proceedings, and for having someone speak up on his behalf.”

The MWLC is among the newest initiatives by law charity Pro Bono SG, which is one of the few charities in Singapore offering free legal support. The charity helped over 16,650 individuals and community organisations between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 14,910 in the period of April 2022 to March 2023.

‘Human face of justice’

As the co-head of Allen & Gledhill’s international arbitration practice, Pro Bono SG’s chairman Dinesh Dhillon has worked with corporations on lawsuits involving billion-dollar investments. But he often thinks of those who cannot access the same legal services.

In 2016, he met a Chinese national who could not register her triplets’ birth after her Singaporean spouse abandoned them.

Mr Dhillon, who also has triplets, wrote to the authorities to help secure their citizenship.

Speaking to The Straits Times in August at Pro Bono SG’s office at the State Courts, Mr Dhillon said: “The heart of pro bono is being the human face of justice to the people who need it.”

The charity has broadened its reach in recent years by setting up community law centres and legal clinics in the heartland.

It also started the Family Justice Support Scheme in 2022 to offer help on issues such as divorce and family violence.

On the migrant worker front, Pro Bono SG has gone from running a fortnightly legal clinic at Angullia Mosque in Little India to opening MWLC that runs five days a week.

The fortnightly legal clinic saw 104 workers from April 2023 to March 2024. In the first three months after opening in April, MWLC has handled 173 cases, including criminal cases and those involving salary claims.

Mr Dhillon, who became the charity’s chairman in January, said: “Even when they didn’t get the outcome they wanted, they were still happy that someone could explain it to them so they could understand what was going on.”

The charity is best known for its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas), which helps those who cannot afford a criminal lawyer.

It received 830 applications and referrals in the financial year ending March 31, up from 614 in the preceding period.

One of its most memorable cases was in 2015, when Ms Cai Chengying, deputy chief executive of Pro Bono SG, defended a man who claimed he was innocent after being charged with heroin consumption.

He claimed his urine test was positive due to codeine in the cough syrup he was taking, but could not recall the clinic in Hougang that he had bought it from.

Ms Cai called and wrote to several clinics in the area, while her father helped to take photos of clinics for her to check with the client.

Amazingly, one of the clinics sent a fax with her client’s prescription a few weeks later, which got him acquitted.

When asked why Clas lawyers defend criminals for free, Mr Dhillon said: “You do not know they are criminals until you have gone through due process.”

Rising costs

The charity, which started in 2007 as a department within the Law Society of Singapore with six staff members, has since grown into a team of over 50 people with 12 full-time lawyers.

They draw a monthly income but do not take a cent from their clients. The charity relies on donations and government grants to keep it going.

Beyond providing legal aid, Pro Bono SG raises legal awareness among the public and guides organisations such as social enterprises on legal matters.

With its expanded reach, its annual expenditure has risen over 30 per cent within three years, from $3.9 million in the financial year ending March 31, 2021, to $5.25 million in the financial year ending March 31, 2024.

This year, the charity hopes to raise $250,000 via its SG60 fund-raising drive.

Mr Dhillon said justice is not just what happens in a courtroom, but also how people treat one another.

A society with no access to justice for its needy will be divided and fall apart, he added.

He said: “If we wish to ensure Singapore retains its valuable position in this world, its community cohesiveness, it is the values we pass on that will make all the difference.”

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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