Post by Khoo Boon Han

JUSTICE IS BLIND. ....except to money. This post accompanies a clip from Boston Legal, where Alan Shore argues an appeal for an accused who was technically represented at trial but in reality, never truly defended. Why? Poverty. Incompetent counsel. An uneven battlefield. Justice today is a luxury good. Imagine having ten Karpal Singh (may his soul rest in peace) fighting relentlessly in your corner versus an overworked, underpaid, undertrained rookie lawyer doing damage control instead of defence. If you’re poor and unknown, your fate is often sealed long before judgment is delivered. In common law systems, justice is adversarial rather than inquisitorial. Judges are referees, not investigators. They decide based on what is argued before them. Which means justice is only as good as the lawyers arguing the case. And competence costs money. Too bad there is no law that truly levels the playing field. Yes, money can’t buy happiness. Poverty can’t either. But money? At least buy u a good lawyer. And that uncomfortable truth is what makes this clip hit so hard. Like many, instead of doing it myself, I hope there is more Alan Shore out there doing the world a favour. #kbhsays

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