The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice
Notice on the issuance of the "Measures for the Implementation of the Legal Aid Law".
The High People's Courts, People's Procuratorates, Public Security Departments (Bureaus), and Judicial Departments (Bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region High People's Court Production and Construction Corps Branch, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps People's Procuratorate, Public Security Bureau, and Justice Bureau:
The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice have drafted the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of Justice, so as to fully implement the "Legal Aid Law of the People's Republic of China", to strengthen the coordination and cooperation of the people's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs, judicial-administrative organs, and other departments in the course of handling legal aid cases, to provide more high-quality and efficient legal aid services to citizens with financial difficulties and other parties who meet the legally-prescribed requirements, to effectively protect the lawful rights and interests of the public, to ensure the correct implementation of the law, and to preserve social fairness and justice. The Measures for the Implementation of the Legal Aid Law are hereby issued to you, and you are requested to conscientiously implement them in light of actual conditions.
Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Justice.
November 20, 2023.
Measures for the Implementation of the Legal Aid Law
Article 1: These Measures are drafted on the basis of the "Legal Aid Law of the People's Republic of China" and other relevant legal provisions, so as to regulate and promote legal aid work, and to ensure the correct implementation of the law.
Article 2: Legal aid efforts adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, persist in being people-centered, respect and protect human rights, follow the principles of openness, fairness, and justice, and implement a combination of state safeguards and social participation.
Article 3: The Ministry of Justice guides and oversees legal aid efforts nationwide. Judicial-administrative organs at the county level or above guide and supervise legal aid efforts in that administrative region.
Article 4: People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall, within the scope of their respective duties, ensure that parties receive legal aid in accordance with law, and facilitate legal aid personnel's work.
People's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs, and judicial-administrative organs shall establish and complete communication and coordination mechanisms, and do a good job of connecting efforts in areas such as notification of rights, transfer of applications, and case handling, to ensure the normal development of legal aid work.
Article 5: Judicial-administrative organs are to guide and supervise legal aid work, and perform the following duties in accordance with law:
1) Organize the implementation of legal aid laws, regulations, rules, and so forth, complete the legal aid system, and strengthen efforts such as the establishment of informatization, personnel training, and popularization of law;
2) Guide and supervise legal aid institutions and legal aid staff, and oversee efforts such as the quality of legal aid services and the use of funds;
3) Coordinate and advance the establishment of high-quality legal aid teams, make overall plans for the allocation of legal service resources, and support and regulate the participation of social forces in legal aid work;
4) Give commendations and awards to organizations and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to legal aid efforts in accordance with relevant provisions;
5) Accepting, investigating, and handling legal aid objections, complaints, and reports within their jurisdiction;
6) Establish a system for the disclosure of legal aid information, lawfully releasing information such as laws, regulations, policy announcements, and case quality oversight and management to the public, and accepting societal oversight;
7) Other duties that shall be performed in accordance with law.
Article 6: People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs are to perform the following duties in accordance with law in handling cases or related matters:
1) Promptly inform the relevant parties of their right to apply for legal aid in accordance with law, and transfer the application for legal aid submitted by the detained criminal suspect or defendant;
2) Inform criminal suspects or defendants who have not retained a defender and whose legal aid institutions have not appointed a lawyer to provide them with a defense have the right to meet with a duty lawyer, to ensure that duty lawyers provide legal assistance in accordance with law;
3) Where criminal suspects or defendants in criminal cases fall under the circumstances provided for in the "Legal Aid Law of the People's Republic of China" that shall be notified of a defense, notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer who meets the requirements to serve as the defender;
4) Facilitate legal aid personnel's lawful learning of the relevant circumstances of the case, reading the case file, meeting with them, and so forth;
5) Other duties that shall be performed in accordance with law.
Article 7: Detention centers, prisons, compulsory isolation centers for drug rehabilitation, and other places of custody perform the following duties in accordance with law:
1) Transfers of legal aid applications submitted by detained criminal suspects, defendants, prisoners, and persons in compulsory isolation for drug rehabilitation;
2) Facilitate legal aid personnel's lawful learning of the circumstances of the case, meetings, and so forth;
3) Other duties that shall be performed in accordance with law.
Article 8: Legal aid institutions organize the implementation of legal aid work, and perform the following duties in accordance with law:
1) Provide legal consulting services through various methods such as service windows and the Internet, reminding parties of their right to apply for legal aid in accordance with law, and informing them of the requirements and procedures for applying for legal aid;
2) Accept and review applications for legal aid, and promptly make a decision on whether or not to grant legal aid;
3) Appoint or arrange for legal aid personnel to provide legal aid services that meet standards;
4) Payment of legal aid subsidies;
5) Set up legal aid workstations or contact points as needed for work;
6) Periodically release information to the public, such as on the use of legal aid funds, case handling, and quality evaluation efforts, and accept societal oversight;
7) Other duties that shall be performed in accordance with law.
Article 9: People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs are to perform the following notification obligations in accordance with law:
1) When public security organs and people's procuratorates interrogate a criminal suspect for the first time or employ compulsory measures against a criminal suspect, they shall inform the criminal suspect that they have the right to retain a defender, and inform them that if they meet the requirements for legal aid, they and their close relatives may apply to a legal aid institution for legal aid;
2) Within 3 days of receiving the case materials transferred for review for prosecution, the people's procuratorate shall inform the criminal suspect that he or she has the right to retain a defender, and inform him that if he meets the requirements for legal aid, he or her close relatives may apply for legal aid from a legal aid institution, and shall inform the victim and his legally-designated ** person or close relatives that they have the right to retain a litigant, and inform them that if they meet the requirements for legal aid, they may apply for legal aid from a legal aid institution;
3) Within 3 days of accepting the case, the people's court shall inform the parties to the case and their legally-designated persons or close relatives that they have the right to apply for legal aid in accordance with law;
4) Where parties are dissatisfied with an effective judgment or decision of a judicial organ and raise a collateral appeal or apply for a retrial, and the people's court makes a decision or ruling for retrial, or the people's procuratorate raises a prosecutorial counter-appeal, they shall perform relevant notification duties within 3 days of the decision or ruling on the retrial or the submission of a prosecutorial counter-appeal;
5) Where criminal suspects or defendants have the circumstances provided for in article 25 of the "Legal Aid Law of the People's Republic of China", the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall inform them that if they do not retain a defender, they will notify the legal aid institution to appoint a defender in accordance with law.
Article 10: Notification may be made orally or in writing, and the content of the notification shall be easily understood by the person being informed. Where informing is given orally in person, a record shall be made and signed by the person being informed; ** Where notified, it shall be recorded in the case file; Where notice is given in writing, the receipt of service shall be entered into the file. Where the person being informed expresses their willingness to apply for legal aid on the spot, it shall be recorded in the case file.
Article 11: Where detained criminal suspects, defendants, persons serving sentences, as well as persons in compulsory isolation for drug rehabilitation, submit applications for legal aid, the people's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs, and places of custody shall transfer the application to the legal aid institution within 24 hours of receiving the application, and within 3 days notify the applicant's legally-designated person, close relatives, or other persons entrusted by them to assist in providing relevant documents, proofs, and other materials to the legal aid institution. Where the applicant is unable to notify their legally-designated ** person, close relatives, or other persons retained by them due to reasons attributable to them, the legal aid institution shall be notified at the time of transferring the application, and the legal aid institution shall make a record.
In cases where criminal suspects or defendants apply for legal aid, legal aid institutions may learn from the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs whether the criminal suspect or defendant has financial hardship and other legally-prescribed requirements for applying for legal aid in the course of handling the case.
Article 12: Where people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs discover that criminal suspects or defendants are in circumstances where the "People's Republic of China Legal Aid Law" provides for a notice of defense, they shall notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer within 3 days of discovery.
Where people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs notify legal aid institutions to appoint lawyers to serve as defenders, they shall send documents such as the legal aid notice document, the decision to employ compulsory measures, or the opinion on prosecution, a copy of the indictment, and the judgment.
The legal aid notification document shall clearly indicate the name of the criminal suspect or defendant, the alleged crime, the place or residence of the person in custody, the reason and basis for notifying the defense, the name and *** of the contact person of the case-handling organ, and so forth.
Article 13: Within 3 days of accepting an application for compulsory treatment or discovering that the defendant meets the requirements for compulsory treatment, where the subject of the application or defendant has not retained a litigant, they shall send a legal aid notice to the legal aid institution, and notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer to serve as the respondent or defendant's litigant and provide them with legal aid.
Where the people's procuratorate submits an application for compulsory treatment, the people's court shall send a copy of the compulsory treatment application to the legal aid institution as well.
The legal aid notice document shall clearly indicate the name of the subject of the application or defendant, the name of the legally-designated person, and the name of the case-handling organ and contact person
Article 14: Duty lawyers are to lawfully provide legal assistance to criminal suspects or defendants who do not have a defender, such as legal consultation, suggestions on the selection of procedures, applications for modification of compulsory measures, and comments on the handling of cases.
The people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall send the legal assistance notice to the legal aid institution or directly to the on-site duty lawyer 3 working days before the date set for legal assistance. Where no on-site duty lawyer is arranged during that period, the legal aid institution shall designate a duty lawyer within two working days of receiving the notice of legal assistance, and notify the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs.
Article 15: Where parties apply for legal aid to legal aid institutions on the basis of a people's court, people's procuratorate, or public security organ's decision to give state judicial aid, or a people's court's decision to grant judicial aid, the legal aid institution is exempt from verifying the financial hardship.
Article 16: Legal aid institutions shall conduct a review within 7 days of receiving an application for legal aid, and make a decision on whether to grant legal aid. Where a decision is made to give legal aid, legal aid personnel shall be appointed to provide legal aid to the aid recipient within 3 days of the decision being made; Where a decision is made not to grant legal aid, the applicant shall be notified in writing and the reasons explained.
Within 3 days of receiving the legal aid notice from the people's courts, people's procuratorates, or public security organs, legal aid institutions shall appoint a lawyer and notify the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs in writing, and the official legal aid letter shall indicate the lawyer's name, affiliation, and ***
Article 17: Legal aid personnel shall comply with relevant laws, regulations, rules, and provisions, and do a good job of such work as meetings, reading case files, investigating the situation, collecting evidence, participating in court hearings, and submitting written opinions based on the circumstances of the case, and lawfully provide legal aid services that meet the standards for aid recipients.
Article 18: When people's courts determine a case date, they shall reserve the necessary preparation time for legal aid personnel to appear in court, and notify the legal aid personnel three days in advance, except as otherwise provided by law.
Where people's courts decide to change the date, they shall notify the legal aid personnel three days in advance, except as otherwise provided by law. Where legal aid personnel are unable to appear in court on time for a legitimate reason, they may apply to the people's court for an extension**. Where the people's courts agree to an extension, they shall promptly notify the legal aid personnel.
Article 19: Where people's courts, people's procuratorates, or public security organs change compulsory measures or detention sites for criminal suspects or defendants, they shall promptly inform the lawyer undertaking the legal aid case.
Article 20: In criminal legal aid cases, after the public security organs withdraw the case or transfer it for review for prosecution, after the people's procuratorate makes a decision to initiate a public prosecution, not to prosecute, or withdraw the case, after the people's court terminates the trial or makes a ruling, and after the public security organs, people's procuratorate, or people's court transfers the case to another organ for handling, they shall send a copy or copy of the relevant legal documents to the lawyer undertaking the legal aid case within 5 days.
The public security organ's prosecution opinion, the people's procuratorate's indictment, non-prosecution decision, and the people's court's judgment or ruling shall clearly indicate the name of the legal aid institution that made the appointment, the name of the lawyer undertaking the case, and the unit to which it belongs.
Article 21: Legal aid personnel shall promptly receive relevant legal documents such as judgments, rulings, mediation documents, arbitration awards, and administrative reconsideration decisions for the cases they undertake, and submit materials for closing the case as provided.
Article 22: In any of the circumstances provided for in article 48 of the "Legal Aid Law of the People's Republic of China", the legal aid institution shall make a decision to terminate legal aid, draft a written decision to terminate legal aid and send it to the aid recipient, and notify the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs in writing within 3 days of making the decision.
Where people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs discover any of the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph in the course of handling a case, they shall promptly notify the legal aid institution in writing.
Article 23: Where defendants refuse a lawyer appointed by a legal aid institution to defend them, and persist in exercising their right to a defense, and the people's court permits it in accordance with law, the legal aid institution shall make a decision to terminate the legal aid.
In cases where a defense should be notified, where the criminal suspect or defendant refuses to appoint a lawyer to defend them, the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall ascertain the reasons. where the reasons are legitimate, it shall be permitted, but the criminal suspect or defendant shall retain a defender separately within 5 days; Where criminal suspects or defendants have not separately retained a defender, the people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall notify the legal aid institution to appoint another lawyer to provide them with a defense within 3 days.
Article 24: The physical safety and professional dignity of legal aid personnel are protected by law.
Legal aid personnel have the right to refuse any conduct that interferes with legal aid personnel's performance of their duties, and is to truthfully record and report it in accordance with provisions. Legal aid personnel have the right to file a complaint against violations of the rights of legal aid personnel.
Where legal aid personnel are falsely reported, falsely accused, framed, insulted, and defamed as a result of performing their duties in accordance with law, causing harm to their reputations, the responsibility of the relevant units or individuals is to be pursued in accordance with law.
Article 25: People's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs, and judicial-administrative organs shall strengthen the establishment of informatization, establish and improve platforms for the exchange of legal aid information, bring about operational coordination and information interconnection, and use modern information technology to promptly and accurately transmit and exchange relevant legal documents, increasing the level of legal aid informatization, and ensuring the effective development of legal aid work.
Article 26: Legal aid institutions shall comprehensively use measures such as observing court hearings, reviewing case files, soliciting the opinions of judicial organs, and returning visits to aid recipients, to urge legal aid personnel to increase the quality of services.
People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall cooperate with judicial-administrative organs and legal aid institutions in completing efforts related to oversight of the quality of legal aid services, assisting judicial-administrative organs and legal aid institutions in investigating and verifying complaints and reports, and responding to soliciting opinions.
Article 27: Where people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs discover that legal aid personnel have conduct that violates laws or regulations in the course of handling a case, they shall promptly report the relevant circumstances to the judicial-administrative organs or legal aid institutions, and the judicial-administrative organs and legal aid institutions shall give feedback on the results of the investigation and handling to the unit.
Article 28: Except as otherwise provided by law, the provisions of these Measures on public security organs shall apply to the handling of criminal cases by ** organs, military security departments, China Coast Guard Bureaus, and prisons.
Article 29: "Legal aid personnel" as used in these Measures refers to lawyers, basic-level legal service workers, legal aid volunteers, and staff members of legal aid institutions who have lawyer qualifications or legal professional qualifications and so forth, who have accepted the appointment or arrangement of a legal aid institution to lawfully provide legal aid services to citizens with financial difficulties and other parties who meet the legally-prescribed requirements.
Article 30: These Measures shall come into force on the date of promulgation.
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