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The system of legal aid

Updated : 2015-06-09

Legal aid

This refers to a judicial system where people living in poverty or other special cases can qualify for legal assistance at a reduce price or for free from the State. This system is an important one for following the principle of "All citizens are equal before the law" and to guarantee that all citizens enjoy equal protection under the law, and for a more perfect social system, and human rights protection.

Establishing the system

As China’s reforms and opening-up and socialist market economy develop, the law has become an important way to adjust social relationships and legal services have grown in demand as citizens seek to protect their rights and interests. As the economic system changes, income gaps have appeared, resulting in the challenge of protection of individual rights and interests under difficult economic conditions. Finally, to protect the people and bring them the same right to legal assistance, to protect justice and human rights, to follow the principle of "All citizens equal before the law", and to establish a Chinese legal aid system, the Justice Ministry brought the issue up in early 1994, and began experimenting with legal aid in some mid-sized to large cities. And, with the passage of the Criminal Procedure Law and Lawyers Law, the legal aid system has begun to take shape. After several years of experimentation, it has developed a lot with local regulations established in different places. By now, there are laws and regulations on legal aid in 17 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Then the passage of the Regulation on Legal Aid symbolized a new historical moment in legal aid work.

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