Article 1
This Law is enacted to regulate and promote legal aid work, to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and relevant parties, to guarantee the proper enforcement of the law, and to maintain social fairness and justice.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Law, "legal aid", as an integral part of the public legal service system, refers to the system established by the state to gratuitously provide legal advice, representation, criminal defense, and other legal services for citizens in financial hardship and other parties that meet statutory requirements.
Article 3
Legal aid work falls under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and shall be carried out with the people put front and center, human rights respected and protected, the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality adhered to, and state support and social participation combined.
Article 4
The people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate legal aid work into national economic and social development plans and basic public service systems, and coordinate the cause of legal aid with the economic and social progress.
In order to accommodate the needs arising from the provision of legal aid and promote the balanced development of legal aid, the people's governments at or above the county level shall build sound systems to guarantee legal aid work, include funds related to legal aid in government budgets at the corresponding levels, and establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism.
Article 5
The judicial administration department of the State Council shall guide and supervise the legal aid work throughout the country. The judicial administration departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall guide and supervise the legal aid work in their respective administrative areas.
Other relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, in line with their respective functions and duties, provide support and guarantees for legal aid work.
Article 6
People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall, within their respective functions and duties, ensure that the parties obtain legal aid in accordance with the law, and provide convenience for legal aid workers to carry out their work.
Article 7
Lawyers' associations shall guide and support law firms and lawyers in participating in legal aid.
Article 8
The state encourages and supports people's organizations, public institutions, and social organizations in providing legal aid in accordance with the law under the guidance of judicial administration departments.
Article 9
The state encourages and supports enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, individuals and other forces of society in supporting the cause of legal aid through donation and other means in accordance with the law, and shall give tax incentives to those who meet the requirements.
Article 10
The judicial administration departments shall regularly give publicity to and education about legal aid so as to popularize knowledge of legal aid.
The news media shall actively give public-interest publicity to legal aid and strengthen supervision by public opinion.
Article 11
The state, in accordance with the relevant provisions, commends and rewards organizations and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to legal aid.
Article 12
The judicial administration departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish legal aid institutions. A legal aid institution shall be responsible for organizing legal aid, accepting and examining legal aid applications, appointing lawyers, community-level legal service workers, legal aid volunteers, and other legal aid workers to provide legal aid, and paying legal aid allowances.
Article 13
To suit the needs of work, a legal aid institution may appoint its employees with lawyer qualifications or qualifications for the legal profession to provide legal aid, and may establish legal aid service or contact stations to process legal aid applications in proximity.
Article 14
A legal aid institution may assign duty lawyers to people's courts, people's procuratorates, detention centers, and other venues to provide legal aid in accordance with the law for criminal suspects and defendants who have no defense counsel.