The Higher People's Courts and Justice Departments (Bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Military Court of the Chinese People's Liberation Army:
For To smoothly implement the provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" on legal aid, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued a notice:
In order to smoothly implement the provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" on legal aid Regarding the provisions on assistance, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice have notified the following matters regarding legal aid procedures in criminal trials
After receiving the designated defense notice and a copy of the indictment, the legal aid agency or judicial administrative agency shall Within three days, a lawyer with legal aid obligations will be assigned to provide defense for blind, deaf, mute, minors, or criminal defendants who may be sentenced to death and have not retained a defender.
For criminal cases in which the criminal defendant meets the financial difficulty standards stipulated by the local government and the people's court deems it necessary to designate a defense for him, the legal aid agency or judicial administrative agency shall within three days after receiving the designated defense notice , appoint a lawyer with legal aid obligations to provide defense.
If the people's court deems it necessary to designate a defense for a criminal defendant who meets the following conditions based on the facts of the case, the legal aid agency or judicial administrative agency shall designate the defense within three days of receiving the notice of designation of defense from the people's court. Lawyers with legal aid obligations provide defense for them:
(1) I have no financial resources and my family’s financial situation cannot be ascertained;
(2) I have no financial resources and other The family is approved by the People's Court. There is indeed no financial source, and his family members are still unwilling to bear the defense expenses after repeated persuasion;
(3) ***In the same criminal case, other defendants have appointed defenders, but the defendant has not appointed defenders
(4) The foreign defendant has not retained a defender;
(5) The case has a significant social impact;
(6) People's Court It is believed that there are problems with the prosecution opinions and evidence materials in the transferred case, which may affect the correct conviction and sentencing.
For cases that require entrustment of defense, the People's Court shall, ten days before the hearing, deliver the notice of entrustment of a defender and a copy of the People's Procuratorate's indictment to the local legal aid institution or the judicial administrative agency at the same level. At the same time, an explanation of the defendant's compliance with the legal aid conditions stipulated in the law or this notice or proof of financial difficulties shall be attached.
If a defense lawyer accepts legal aid matters with the consent of the criminal defendant, he may perform defense duties in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law.
The people's courts should actively support lawyers in performing their defense duties and carry out legal aid work, and provide convenience for lawyers to review, excerpt, and copy the facts of the alleged cases, and to meet and communicate with defendants in custody.