1. Does the court have free legal aid?
The Regulations on Legal Aid does not stipulate that legal aid cases should be tried by the courts, but according to the joint notice of the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice on criminal legal aid, "the people's courts should actively support lawyers to exercise their defense functions in legal aid work, and provide them with convenient conditions such as consulting, extracting and copying the criminal facts accused in this case and meeting the defendants in custody." The Joint Notice on Several Issues Concerning Civil Legal Aid stipulates: "Civil legal aid cases shall be filed, concluded and executed in time." "If the court considers that it meets the conditions of legal aid after examination, it shall make a decision to defer the case acceptance fee and other legal fees for the recipient."
2. What are the conditions for legal aid?
Article 35 of the Criminal Procedure Law: If a criminal suspect or defendant fails to entrust a defender due to financial difficulties or other reasons, he or his near relatives may apply to a legal aid institution. To meet the conditions of legal aid, legal aid institutions shall appoint lawyers to defend them.
If the criminal suspect or defendant is a mental patient who is blind, deaf, dumb or has not completely lost the ability to identify or control his own behavior, and has not entrusted a defender, the people's court, the people's procuratorate and the public security organ shall notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer to defend him.
If a criminal suspect or defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment or death without entrusting a defender, the people's court, the people's procuratorate and the public security organ shall notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer to defend him.
(1) Provisions on applying for legal aid due to financial difficulties or other reasons
1. The scope of application of this clause is cases where the criminal suspect or defendant fails to entrust a defender due to financial difficulties or other reasons. That is, the criminal suspect and the defendant cannot afford a lawyer for economic reasons, or because of other reasons other than economic difficulties, if no one acts as a defender for them, they have not entrusted a defender. This provision reflects the state's legal aid to people with financial difficulties. Any defendant has the right to entrust a defender, and this right should not be abandoned because of his poverty. It should be noted that those who can entrust a defender and voluntarily give up this right do not belong to the scope of providing legal aid as stipulated in this paragraph.
2. The subject of applying for legal aid as stipulated in this paragraph is "himself and his near relatives". "I" as mentioned here refers to the fact that the criminal suspect or defendant himself has not entrusted a defender due to financial difficulties or other reasons. "Close relatives" refer to the husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters of criminal suspects and defendants as stipulated in Item 6 of Article 106 of this Law.
3. The institution that accepts and examines legal aid applications mentioned in this paragraph is a legal aid institution, that is, an institution that is determined by the judicial administrative department of a municipality directly under the central government, a city divided into districts or a people's government at the county level to accept and examine legal aid applications and assign or arrange personnel to provide legal aid to citizens who meet the conditions of legal aid.
4, to meet the conditions of legal aid, legal aid institutions shall appoint lawyers to provide defense. According to this provision, if a criminal suspect, defendant and their close relatives apply to a legal aid institution according to the provisions of this paragraph, the legal aid institution shall accept and examine the application, and assign a lawyer to defend those who meet the conditions for legal aid. This is the legal obligation of legal aid institutions.
(2) Provisions on providing legal aid to the disabled and vulnerable groups in criminal proceedings.
The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to cases of public prosecution and cases of private prosecution. Among them, "blindness" refers to blindness in both eyes and "deafness" refers to deafness in both ears. "Mental patients who have not completely lost their ability to identify or control their own behavior", according to the provisions of Article 18 of the Criminal Law, if these people commit crimes, they shall bear criminal responsibility, but they may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment. Providing legal aid to the above-mentioned criminal suspects and defendants is mainly based on the following considerations: if the criminal suspects and defendants are blind, deaf, dumb or mental patients who have not completely lost the ability to identify or control their own behavior, their physical defects may lead to their lack of legal knowledge, their understanding of external things is biased, and there are obstacles in identifying evidence or even defending in court, and they should have defense lawyers to safeguard their legal rights.
The provisions of this paragraph apply to the stages of investigation, prosecution and trial, and the subjects of obligation include people's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs and legal aid institutions. If the criminal suspect or defendant is a mental patient who is blind, deaf, dumb or has not completely lost the ability to identify or control his own behavior, and has not entrusted a defender, the public security organ, the people's procuratorate and the people's court shall notify the legal aid institution at the stages of investigation, prosecution and trial, and the legal aid institution shall appoint a lawyer to defend him.
(3) Provisions on legal aid for criminal proceedings of life imprisonment or death penalty.
The death penalty is the heaviest punishment, and China has always advocated the use of the death penalty with caution, because once the judgment takes effect, even if it is found wrong, it is difficult to recover it. Life imprisonment is also a severe punishment, which will deprive criminals of their personal freedom for a long time. Therefore, in the process of criminal proceedings, it is necessary to ensure that these criminal suspects and defendants fully exercise their right to defense. This is a special protection for the defense right of felons, and it also embodies the principle of gradual progress based on the current national conditions. "May be sentenced to death" here includes both immediate execution and suspended execution.
It should be pointed out that what is stipulated here is that it is "possible" to be sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty, which is a possibility judgment made by the people's court, the people's procuratorate and the public security organ based on the facts and evidence of the case, rather than a conclusion. In the course of criminal proceedings, if it is found that a criminal suspect or defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment or death according to the circumstances of the case, and a defender is not entrusted, legal aid shall be provided to the criminal suspect or defendant immediately in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. The provisions of this paragraph apply to the stages of investigation, prosecution and trial, and the subjects of obligation include people's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs and legal aid institutions. If a criminal suspect or defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment or death without a defender, the public security organ, the people's procuratorate and the people's court shall notify the legal aid institution at the stages of investigation, prosecution and trial, and the legal aid institution shall appoint a lawyer to defend him.
I hope the above contents are helpful to you. Please consult a professional lawyer if you have any other questions.
Legal basis: Article 2 of the Regulations on Legal Aid; Citizens who meet the conditions of these regulations may obtain legal services such as legal consultation, agency and criminal defense free of charge in accordance with these regulations.
Article 22; Personnel handling legal aid cases shall abide by professional ethics and practice discipline, and shall not collect any property when providing legal aid.