Regulations on Legal Aid

Adopted July 16, 2003 at the 15^th executive meeting of the State Council and effective as of September 1, 2003.

Article 1. These regulations are formulated in order to ensure that citizens with financial difficulties obtain the necessary legal services and to promote and standardize legal aid work.

Article 2. Citizens that satisfy the provisions of these regulations may obtain legal counsel, representation, criminal defense, and other pro bono legal services in accordance with these regulations.

Article 3. Legal aid is the responsibility of government. People�s governments at the county level and above shall adopt positive measures to advance legal aid work, provide financial support for legal aid, and ensure that legal aid services are coordinated in tandem with the economy and society.

Legal aid funds shall be earmarked for that purpose and shall be supervised by finance and auditing departments.

Article 4. The judicial administration department under the State Council supervises and manages legal aid work across the country. Judicial administration departments of local people�s governments at each level above the county level supervise and manage legal aid work in their respective administrative districts.

The All China Lawyers Association and local lawyers associations shall assist with legal aid work put into effect by these regulations in accordance with their lawyers association charters.

Article 5. The judicial administration departments of centrally administered cities, cities divided into districts, or people�s governments at the country level establish legal aid offices for their administrative districts according to demand.

Legal aid offices are responsible for accepting and examining legal aid applications and for appointing or arranging for personnel to provide legal aid to citizens that satisfy the provisions of these regulations.

Article 6. Lawyers shall carry out their legal aid duties in accordance with the Lawyers Law and the provisions of these regulations, provide legal services conforming to standards to aid recipients, safeguard the legal rights and interests of aid recipients according to the law, and submit to the supervision of lawyers associations and judicial administration departments.

Article 7. The state encourages the society to make contributions for legal aid activities.

Article 8. The state supports and encourages social organizations, state-run institutions, and other social groups to use their resources to provide legal aid for citizens with financial difficulties.

Article 9. The relevant people�s governments and judicial administration departments shall honor and reward organizations and individuals that make outstanding contributions in the course of legal aid work.

Article 10. Citizens who, due to financial difficulty, have not retained counsel for the following matters requiring representation may apply to legal aid organs for legal aid:

(6) matters in which they are advocating civil rights and interests that arise as a result of actions taken in the interest of justice.

The people�s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and centrally controlled municipalities may adopt supplementary provisions for legal aid matters other than those listed in the clause above.

Citizens may apply to legal aid offices for legal consultation for the matters provided in clauses 1 and 2 of this article.

Article 11. Citizens may apply to legal aid organs for legal aid in criminal proceedings involving one of the following situations:

(1) the criminal suspect, due to financial difficulties, has not retained a lawyer after first being interrogated by an investigative organ or from the date that compulsory measures are adopted;

(2) in the course of public prosecution, the victim and his lawful representative or close relatives, due to financial difficulty, have not retained legal counsel from the date the case is transferred for review and prosecution;

(3) in the case of private prosecution, an individual initiating private prosecution and his lawful representative, due to financial difficulty, have not retained legal counsel from the date that the case is accepted by a people�s court.

Article 12. For cases in which public prosecutors appear in court, if the defendant has not retained defense counsel due to financial difficulty or for some other reason, legal aid offices shall provide legal aid when the people�s court appoints defense counsel for the defendant.

When people�s courts appoint defense counsel for defendants who are blind, deaf, mute or underage, or who may face the death penalty, and who have not retained defense counsel, legal aid offices shall provide legal aid and do not need to investigate the economic circumstances of the defendant.

Article 13. The standards for �financial difficulty� in these regulations shall be stipulated by the people�s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and centrally administered municipalities according to the economic development conditions of that administrative region and the demand for legal aid services.

If the standards for financial difficulty in an applicant�s place of domicile differ from those in the locality of the legal aid office accepting the application, legal aid shall be carried out in accordance with the standards for financial difficulty in the locality of the legal aid office accepting the application.

Article 14. When citizens apply for legal aid for one of matters listed in Article 10 of these regulations, the application shall be made according to the following provisions:

(1) if the applicant is claiming state compensation, the application shall be made to the legal aid office in the locality of the organ responsible for compensation;

(2) if the applicant is claiming social security payments, minimum living guarantee payments, pensions for the disabled or bereaved, or welfare payments, the application shall be made to the legal aid office in the locality of the organ responsible for the social security payments, minimum living guarantee payments, pension for the disabled or bereaved, or welfare payments;

(3) if the applicant is claiming payments for the support of parents, child support, or alimony, application shall be made to the legal aid office in the place of domicile of the individual responsible for the parent support, child support, or alimony payments;

(4) if the applicant is claiming remuneration for labor, application shall be made to the legal aid office in the locality of the person responsible for making payment for the labor;

(5) if the applicant is advocating civil rights and interests that arise as a result of actions taken in the interest of justice, application shall be made to the legal aid office in the place of domicile of the applicant.

Article 15. When an individual listed in Article 11 of these regulations applies for legal aid, the individual shall make his application to the legal aid office in the locality of the people�s court that hears the case. Applications from criminal suspects who have been detained shall be transmitted by the detention facility to the legal aid office within twenty-four hours. The detention facility shall notify the applicant�s lawful representative or close relatives of the relevant documents and evidence that need to be submitted for the legal aid application.

Article 16. When applicants do not have the capacity for civil acts or have limited capacity for civil acts, applications shall be made by their lawful representative.

When individuals who do not have capacity for civil acts or have limited capacity for civil acts need to apply for legal aid for a lawsuit or other dispute with their lawful representative that involves their interests, a lawful representative without an interest related to the dispute shall make the application for legal aid.

Article 17. Citizens applying for legal aid for representation or legal defense shall provide the following documents and evidence:

(1) identity card or other valid proof of identity. Persons acting as representatives of the applicant shall also provide proof of their right to act as representative;

Applications shall be made in writing and an application form shall be completed. If the applicant has genuine difficulty making a written application, the applicant may apply orally, and personnel of the legal aid office or relevant personnel acting for the office transmitting the application shall make a written record.

Article 18. After a legal aid office receives an application for legal aid, it shall conduct an investigation. If it determines that the documents and evidence provided by the applicant are incomplete, it may request that the applicant supplement or explain the materials as necessary. If the applicant does not supplement or explain the application as requested, the application may be canceled. If the legal aid office determines that the documents or evidence provided by the applicant require investigation, it may investigate and verify the materials with the relevant organ or work unit.

When applicants satisfy the conditions for legal aid, the legal aid office shall promptly make a decision to provide legal aid. When applicants do not satisfy the conditions for legal aid, the legal aid office shall provide the applicant with written notice of the reasons.

Article 19. If an applicant objects to a notification from a legal aid office that the applicant does not satisfy the conditions for legal aid, the applicant may raise the issue with the judicial administration department that established the legal aid office. Within five business days of receiving the objection, the judicial administration department shall conduct an investigation and, if it determines through investigation that the applicant satisfies the conditions for legal aid, it shall issue an order to the legal aid office to promptly provide the applicant with legal aid.

Article 20. For cases in which people�s courts appoint defense counsel, the people�s court shall send the defense counsel appointment notification document and a copy of the indictment or judgment to the legal aid office for its locality ten days prior to the start of the trial. If the court is not hearing the case in that locality, it may send the defense counsel appointment notification document and a copy of the indictment or judgment to the legal aid office in the locality where the trial will take place.

Article 21. Legal aid offices may designate a law firm to arrange for a lawyer to handle a legal aid case or may arrange for one of its own personnel to handle a legal aid case. Legal aid offices may also arrange for a person belonging to another social organization to handle the legal aid case at the request of that social organization. For cases in which a people�s court appoints defense counsel, the legal aid office shall reply to the people�s court that makes the appointment three days prior to the trial with a list of names of the individuals responsible for the case.

Article 22. Individuals who handle legal aid cases shall abide by professional ethics and practice discipline. They may not collect any payment for providing the legal aid.[1]

Article 23. When an individual handling a legal aid case encounters one of the following situations, the individual shall report it to the legal aid office, and, after investigation and verification, the legal aid office shall terminate legal aid for that matter:

(1) the economic circumstances of aid recipient change and the person no longer satisfies the conditions for legal aid;

Article 24. When a case is concluded, lawyers appointed to handle legal aid cases or personnel of social organizations that make arrangements to handle legal aid cases shall submit duplicates or photocopies of the relevant legal documents, a report on the outcome of the case, and other materials to the legal aid office.

After a legal aid office has received the case materials stipulated above, it shall pay a legal aid case handling subsidy to the lawyer or social organization that was appointed to handle the legal aid case.

Standards for legal aid case handling subsidies shall be set by the judicial administrative department of the people�s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and centrally administered municipalities, working jointly with finance departments at the same level, according to the level of economic development of that locality and with reference to the average cost for a legal aid office to handle each type of legal aid case and other factors. The subsidy may be adjusted as necessary.

Article 25. When citizens apply for legal consultation services, legal aid offices shall handle the matter immediately. If the case is complex or difficult, they may arrange for an appointment and chose a time to handle the matter.

Article 26. If legal aid organs and their personnel are involved in one of the following situations, the supervisor directly responsible and other directly responsible personnel shall be disciplined according to the law:

(1) providing legal aid to individuals who do not satisfy the conditions for legal aid, or refusing legal aid for individuals who satisfy the conditions for legal aid;

If payment is collected for handling a legal aid case, the judicial administration department shall order it returned. Illegal income from engaging in legal services for pay shall be confiscated by the judicial administration department. Legal aid funds that are misappropriated, secretly taken for private use, or embezzled shall be recovered by order of the judicial administration department, and, if the circumstances are serious and constitute a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

Article 27. If law firms refuse an appointment from a legal aid organ and do not arrange for the firm�s lawyers to handle a legal aid case, they shall be admonished by the judicial administration department and ordered to correct the situation. If the circumstances are serious, the judicial administration department may punish such firms by ordering them to cease doing business and engage in rectification for one to three months.

Article 28. If lawyers are involved in one of the following situations, they shall be admonished by the judicial administration department and ordered to correct the situation, and, if the circumstances are serious, the judicial administration department may punish them by suspending them from practice for 1 to 3 months:

(1) refusing to accept a legal aid case without proper reasons, or terminating legal aid without authorization; or

In the case of the illegal acts described in clause two, the lawyer shall be ordered by the judicial administration department to return the payments collected illegally and may also be fined one to three times the value of the payments collected.

Article 29. When lawyers violate professional ethics or discipline while handling a legal aid case, they shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Lawyers Law.

Article 30. When personnel of a judicial administration department abuse their authority or are derelict in their duty in the course of supervising and managing legal aid, they shall be subject to administrative discipline in accordance with the law. When the circumstances are serious and constitute a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

[1] Translators Note: Article 24 provides that lawyers handling legal aid cases shall be paid a case handling subsidy by legal aid offices. In this context, Article 22 should be read as a prohibition on the collection of fees or other payments from legal aid clients.

[2] Translators Note: This provision most likely means that legal aid office personnel may not engage in the practice of law for pay outside of the legal aid context.