Justice Fund helps legal defence of over 2,400 low-income people
The Justice Fund has spent THB190 million to help 2,457 low-income people and victims of violent crimes during the past six months, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Friday.
Between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, the fund has approved THB190 million to help low-income people related to lawsuits against them and for compensating crime victims, Somsak said.
The fund helped 1,425 people fight legal cases in court and is assisting 130 others, Somsak said.
The fund has also provided money to help 473 people offer financial guarantee for release on bail and it is helping 119 others. So far, the fund has paid compensations to 14 crime victims and it considering 18 other cases.
Somsak added that 80 low-income people had sought legal advice from the fund and 66 of them had been helped.
The fund approved THB18 million for helping legal cases of low-income people from the total budget of THB45 million.
The fund had budgeted THB130 million to provide money to help crime suspects secure release on bail, but it has spent THB168 million to help them.
The fund has paid out THB160,000 to help victims of crime victims from the THB2 million budget, and has spent THB3.2 million to provide legal knowledge to people from the budget of THB20 million.
In total, the Justice Fund has spent Bt190 million on different missions from the THB197-million budget, Somsak added.
The minister said he had instructed agencies of the Justice Ministry to speed up providing legal assistance to low-income people so that they could have proper legal defence in court and could be released on bail.
After the Songkran holidays, the help would be carried out in a proactive manner. The goal is to bury forever the old saying ‘Only the poor go to jail’, Somsak said.
He said low-income people who need legal assistance can call hotline 1111 ext 77.
