The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government are authorized by law to make supplementary provisions on other legal aid matters.
(2) In criminal proceedings, a citizen may apply to a legal aid institution for legal aid under any of the following circumstances: 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.
It should be noted that citizens who fail to meet the standards of financial difficulties after verification will not be granted legal aid. However, if the defendant is blind, deaf, dumb or a minor without a defender, or if the defendant may be sentenced to death without a defender, and the people's court appoints a defender for the defendant, the legal aid institution shall provide legal aid without examining the defendant's financial situation. Warm reminder that the standards for citizens' financial difficulties shall be formulated by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government according to the economic development of their respective administrative regions and the needs of legal aid undertakings. Where the standard of financial hardship of the applicant's domicile is inconsistent with that of the legal aid institution that accepts the application, the standard of financial hardship of the legal aid institution that accepts the application shall prevail.