On a winter afternoon, the dusty lawyer Xu (pseudonym) finally arrived at the village where his client, Mr. Wang (pseudonym), lived. It belongs to the Yellow River Valley, with little rain throughout the year and a dry climate, just as he felt at the time.
Regardless of the distance, it is the responsibility and obligation of the lawyers of Beijing Zaiming Law Firm (hereinafter referred to as "Zaiming Law Firm") to go to the area where the parties are located for on-the-spot research. This time, he came straight to the desert area.
Indeed, very few lawyers would come to such a relatively remote village or town to handle cases. However, as the deputy director of the pro bono legal service department of the administrative law committee of the law firm, I still want to help my clients fight for more due rights and interests. After several months, lawyer Xu, who continues to be concerned about the progress of the case, said.
Access to legal aid in disadvantaged areas.
The client, Mr. Wang, is the leader of the village group of Zhaheze Village, Lanjiayu Village, Daheta Town, Yuyang District, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. Due to historical problems, this group and other groups have the problem that it is difficult to determine land ownership.
The so-called land ownership refers to the ownership of land, the right to use and the right to benefit and other land-related rights of land. As a resource on which rural groups depend for their survival, the determination of land ownership has a direct interest in farmers. However, due to the influence of various factors such as administrative division, population migration, historical inertia, and land nature, the determination of land ownership has always been complicated in practice.
At present, some companies want to lease land in this area to build photovoltaic power generation units, but the ownership is uncertain, resulting in disputes among villagers over the distribution and distribution of land lease money. Lawyer Xu said.
During the on-site visit, Mr. Xu intuitively felt the development status of Lanjiayuan Village, an underdeveloped area. It is understood that Mr. Wang's family's economy is maintained on this land, and the loss of rented land also means that it is difficult for the family to continue to make a living, which makes lawyer Xu, who has long been concerned about public welfare, have the heart of "helping the weak".
I see that the villagers' ability to pay is also relatively limited, so after discussion by the administrative law professional committee, it was unanimously decided to accept this commission through legal aid, and exempted them from the lawyer's travel expenses and part of the cost of the case", Xu said, although the geographical remoteness, he can help the local villagers to coordinate and solve this problem, and he is very satisfied as a lawyer.
Based on the provisions of Article 14 of the Land Management Law, Article 9 of the Measures for the Investigation and Handling of Land Ownership Disputes, and Item 2 (2) of the Notice of the People's Office of Yulin Municipality on Implementing the Responsibilities of the Administrative Organs of Cities, Counties, Districts and Townships, and Rationalizing the Procedures for the Settlement of Land Ownership Disputes, Mr. Xu represented Mr. Wang to negotiate and mediate with the local authorities, and the case is currently being effectively promoted.
An "industry precedent" of Lei Feng Law Firm
Coincidentally, Mr. Ming Huang is also handling a pro bono assistance case similar to that of his client, Mr. Wang, in a more remote location in Turpan, Xinjiang. In fact, in Ming Law Firm, such cases as lawyers such as Xu and Huang have handled from time to time.
In recent years, with the further development and utilization of natural resources by the state, the value of more and more resources has begun to be explored, and at the same time, the corresponding land ownership and its value evaluation have also become a new social problem. For example, Mr. Wang's Lanjiayuan Village has a great resource advantage in photovoltaic power generation due to its abundant sunlight and vast area, so the utilization value of snow storage has also been improved. However, behind the new problems is the absence or lag of relevant laws, which means that the lawyers handling the case face many challenges in judicial practice.
In the entire field of expropriation and demolition, there are very few cases like the lawyer's association, because the new value assessment means the new compensation standard, and the lawyer is facing a situation full of uncertainty", Yan Huidong, director of the administrative law committee of Zaiming Law Firm, explained that this kind of situation covers a wide range of farmers, who have weak economic ability and poor ability to resist risks. And with the diversified use of resources by the state, the contradictions surrounding such situations are also showing a continuous increasing trend.
Although it was difficult, Mr. Zaiming was supported by Mr. Zaiming. As a law firm that "only defends the rights of those who have been demolished", Zaiming Law Firm has had its own color of "helping the weak" since its birth. In 2016, after being rated as the country's first "Lei Feng Law Firm", Ming Law Firm has connected more public interest attributes, focusing on the disadvantaged groups in the field of expropriation and demolition for a long time.
In March 2023, on the issue of the rights and interests of coastal farmers, Ming Law Firm and Beijing Avenue Administrative Law Aid and Research Center jointly held the "Seminar on the Definition of Collective Property Rights of Coastal Farmers' Tidal Flats". Director Yang Zaiming believes that practitioners in the legal industry should dare to take the lead in the industry and help the formulation and improvement of relevant laws with greater determination.
Fairness and justice are the proper meaning of a harmonious society, and they are also the value pursuit of socialist rule of law. It is reported that in the face of such special problems in China's modernization process, the Public Interest Legal Service Department of Ming Law Firm plans to further carry forward the spirit of Lei Feng, increase the number of assistance cases year by year, activate the momentum of lawyers to participate in public interest legal services, and help more vulnerable rural groups to obtain rights and interests in the overall benefit distribution pattern.