The Legislative Yuan on Monday passed a revision to the Legal Aid Act (法律扶助法) extending legal assistance to foreign workers and economically disadvantaged foreign spouses, who previously did not qualify for help.
The revision was drafted by the Judicial Yuan in an attempt to update the 2004 act and rid it of unrealistic clauses.
Notable among the revised clauses is one that extends the coverage of the act to foreign fishermen, maids and caregivers, as well as economically disadvantaged foreign spouses who have not yet qualified for legal residency in Taiwan. The revision also allows the Legal Aid Foundation to provide assistance to applicants without examining their financial ability, in case they are mentally or psychologically impaired.
Under the revised act, the government is required to set aside 15 percent of its average income from money paid by defendants in deferred prosecution agreements or from plea bargains over the three previous years for the Legal Aid Foundation.
The revised act also stipulates that lawyers designated by the Legal Aid Foundation to render legal aid on its behalf cannot reject the task without a legitimate reason. The foundation may also contract lawyers to render legal aid, with these lawyers allowed to charge reasonable fees.
The foundation was founded after the passage of the act to provide legal assistance to people.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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