A/HRC/44/40/Add.3 • During prosecution, the destitute person is given the right to fair trial i.e. to defend him / herself or to hire lawyer. • Data shows that in 2018 from the total of 145448 who came into the prison 60% has secondary education, 21% primary education, 18% have not been to school and 1% has tertiary level education. Please refer the chart below:• • Prison Admission and Level of Education: Year 2018 Education Level Total Number Percentage (%) Not been school Primary Secondary Tertiary Total 18 to 26,222 30,689 87, 50 1,387 145,448 21 60 1 100 Prison Admission and Income Level: Year 2018 Income (RM) No Information 0- 500 501 - 1000 Total number 38,023 6,971 45,428 Percentage (%) 26 5 31 Paragraph 49 The government should improve access to legal aid, including in civil matters. It should conduct a thorough analysis of the socioeconomic background of prisoners with a view to identifying policies that will break the close link between poverty and incarceration. It should also build on existing programs that promote access to post-release employment opportunities, including by eliminating a bar on educational loans and expunging criminal records for minor offenses. Comments from the Government of Malaysia: • Although the support from the employers were not so encouraging in the beginning, Prison Department through the introduction of Parole System in 2008, managed to penetrate into job market and create opportunities for inmates and at the same time encouraging and gaining the trust of employers in hiring ex-prisoners. • No of Parolees released on Parole Order from 2008-2018 Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Total No of Parolees 199 746 1028 1190 1912 2654 2320 2695 3855 5029 6251 27879 • Prison Department in enhancing its services by venturing into ‘Corporate Smart Internship’ (CSI) program for Parolees since 2017. This program is to seek job training with Corporate Bodies in manufacturing, services and agriculture sector and at the same time 25