Legal aid refers to a legal guarantee system that legal aid agencies established by the government or lawyers of non-governmental organizations provide legal services for people with financial difficulties or special cases, especially in rural areas. A special case refers to a case where the criminal suspect or defendant is blind, deaf or dumb, or a mental patient who has not completely lost the ability to identify or control his own behavior, and has not entrusted a defender. People's courts, people's procuratorates and public security organs shall notify legal aid institutions to appoint lawyers to defend them. 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.
Legal aid is a social welfare undertaking to help the poor and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the vulnerable groups in society, and it is also an important measure for China to implement the general plan of governing the country according to law and build a well-off society in an all-round way. The Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to legal aid. The outline of the Tenth Five-Year Plan of the country defines "establishing a legal aid system" as the social development goal of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, and the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly puts forward "actively developing legal aid" as an important content of building socialist political civilization. The promulgation and implementation of the Regulations on Legal Aid and the launch of the large-scale public welfare activity "Fair and just legal aid for China" marked a new expansion and breakthrough in the breadth and depth of legal aid work in China.
legal ground
Legal aid regulations
Article 10 For the following matters that need to be represented due to economic difficulties, citizens who have not entrusted an agent may apply to legal aid institutions for legal aid:
(1) Requesting state compensation according to law;
(2) Requesting social insurance benefits or minimum living security benefits;
(3) Requesting pensions and relief funds;
(4) Requesting to pay alimony, alimony and alimony;
(5) Requesting payment of labor remuneration;
(six) to claim the civil rights and interests arising from the courageous behavior.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may make supplementary provisions on legal aid matters other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph.
Citizens may apply to legal aid institutions for legal advice on matters specified in the first and second paragraphs of this article. Eleventh in criminal proceedings, under any of the following circumstances, citizens can apply for legal aid from legal aid institutions:
(1) The criminal suspect fails to hire a lawyer due to financial difficulties after being interrogated for the first time by the investigation organ or from the date when compulsory measures are taken;
(2) The victim of a public prosecution case and his legal representative or close relatives have not entrusted an agent ad litem due to financial difficulties since the date when the case was transferred for examination and prosecution;
(three) since the case of private prosecution was accepted by the people's court, the private prosecutor and his legal representative have not entrusted an agent ad litem due to financial difficulties.