NUS professor Ben Leong to head new NGO aimed at protecting victims of ‘frivolous’ lawsuits

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GROWING CONCERNS OVER “LAWFARE”

The setting up of&nbsp, Lionheart Advocates&nbsp, coincides with current efforts by the government to suppress the mistreatment of court procedures. On November 13, 2013, parliament passed amendments to the Administration of Justice ( Protection ) Act ( AOJPA ) to expressly state that a violation of court proceedings can result in contempt of court.

In response to press inquiries about Assoc Prof. Leong’s legal situation in November, the Ministry of Law pointed out that Singapore’s legal system has safeguards in place to stop false statements intended to enslave and steal a lawsuit.

In a political discussion on the amendments, the minister of state for legislation, Murali Pillai, stated that a pattern of these cases has been observed in Singapore and another nations. Pillai added that the effects of egregious abuse of process can be very grave and can eventually lead to a decline in trust in the justice system.

BITCOIN Payment

In response to queries from CNA, Assoc Prof Leong said that most of the S$ 700, 000 came from one of his ex-students in the form of 5 BTC ( bitcoin ). &nbsp,

He cited Singapore’s rigid anti-money laundering laws as causing delays in paying out a significant amount of cryptocurrency. &nbsp,

” It turns out I had a lot of backers who offered income,” I said. In addition&nbsp, to the 5 BTC”, said Assoc Prof Leong.

” When the BTC was first pledged to us, it was worth ~$ 660K. The wait in taking out the cash has actually been a gift because the overall price has since increased. In the long term, we are not planning to hold bitcoin. Our NGO may only work with fiat.

As of Sunday, one BTC is for S$ 131, 400.

Assoc Prof. Leong added that the funds are distributed to law organizations representing plaintiffs in court proceedings. Two companies are now working with the NGO, with one of them, TSMP Law Firm, providing pro bono service.

In response to concerns that they might be subject to online abuse, Assoc Prof Leong declined to disclose additional staff members who are involved in Lionheart Advocates.