Opinions of the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice on Strengthening Legal Aid Work for State Compensation
Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Justice
Notice on Issuing the "Opinions on Strengthening Legal Aid Work for State Compensation"
Higher People's Courts and Judicial Bureaus (Departments) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the Military Court of the People's Liberation Army and the Judicial Bureau of the General Political Department; the Production and Construction Corps Branch of the Higher People's Court of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Judicial Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:
To further standardize and promote legal aid work in state compensation cases handled by people's courts, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice have formulated the "Opinions on Strengthening Legal Aid Work for State Compensation." These are hereby issued to you for implementation.
Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Justice
January 2, 2014
To effectively safeguard the right of disadvantaged groups to claim state compensation in accordance with the law, and to standardize and promote legal aid work in state compensation cases handled by people's courts, the following opinions are put forward in light of the actual circumstances of legal aid work:
I. Enhancing the understanding of the importance of legal aid work for state compensation
Providing legal aid services to disadvantaged groups applying for state compensation in accordance with the law is an important function of legal aid work. In state compensation cases handled by people's courts, citizens applying for state compensation are often vulnerable groups, facing both economic hardship and a lack of legal knowledge, and are in urgent need of legal aid. Strengthening legal aid work for state compensation, ensuring that disadvantaged groups can exercise their right to claim state compensation according to law, is a crucial aspect of adapting to the growing judicial needs of the people, enhancing legal aid services, and improving people's livelihoods in the new era. It is of great significance for achieving social fairness and justice and promoting social harmony and stability. People's courts and judicial administrative organs at all levels must fully recognize the importance of strengthening legal aid work for state compensation, firmly establish a mass perspective, earnestly practice the mass line, further innovate and improve working mechanisms, continuously enhance the capacity and level of legal aid work for state compensation, and strive to ensure that disadvantaged groups feel fairness and justice in every state compensation case.
2. Ensure that eligible individuals in financial difficulty receive timely legal aid for state compensation cases.
People's courts and judicial administrative organs shall publicize the conditions, procedures, and rights and obligations of claimants for legal aid in state compensation cases through various means, enabling the public to understand relevant knowledge and guiding financially distressed claimants to apply for legal aid. The people's court shall, at the time of case filing, inform citizens applying for state compensation in writing that if they face financial hardship, they may apply for legal aid at the legal aid institution located where the compensation obligor is based. Legal aid institutions shall fully utilize the role of grassroots legal aid workstations in answering inquiries and forwarding applications, keep the "12348" legal service hotline open, and where conditions permit, establish legal aid workstations in people's courts to broaden application channels and facilitate citizens' access to legal aid for state compensation. Legal aid institutions shall review applications for legal aid in state compensation cases in accordance with the law, shortening review time within statutory limits to improve efficiency; for citizens who were wrongfully detained and apply for state compensation, if the people's court confirms they have no income source, they may be deemed to meet the financial hardship standard; in cases involving statutory urgency or special circumstances, legal aid institutions may provide legal aid in advance and complete relevant procedures afterward.
3. Strengthen safeguards for legal aid work in state compensation cases.
People's courts shall facilitate legal aid personnel in handling state compensation legal aid cases, actively supporting their applications for court investigations and evidence collection, and exempting fees for copying relevant materials. When handling state compensation cases, people's courts shall fully consider the opinions of legal aid personnel and record them; legal documents such as decisions, judgments, and rulings in state compensation cases shall include the name of the legal aid institution, the name of the legal aid personnel, and their affiliated unit. Judicial administrative organs shall adopt measures such as enhancing social recognition, improving incentive and recognition mechanisms, and increasing case handling subsidies to motivate legal aid personnel in handling state compensation legal aid cases, coordinating with relevant authorities and units as needed to increase support for case handling. People's courts and legal aid institutions shall strengthen coordination, promptly communicating on matters such as appointing or replacing legal aid personnel, changing hearing schedules, or terminating legal aid, and exchanging updates on case progress. People's courts and judicial administrative organs shall establish a joint meeting system to regularly exchange work progress and ensure smooth coordination.
4. Improve the quality and effectiveness of legal aid work in state compensation cases.
Legal aid institutions shall refine case assignment, considering factors such as the type of state compensation case, the professional expertise of legal aid personnel, and the characteristics and preferences of claimants, to reasonably determine the handling agency and personnel, implementing a point-based assignment system where conditions permit to ensure case quality; they shall guide legal aid personnel to diligently perform tasks such as meetings, case file reviews, investigations, evidence collection, and court hearings or cross-examinations, providing standard legal services based on laws and case facts to protect claimants' interests and address their legitimate compensation claims. Presiding judges and legal aid personnel shall focus on clarifying doubts during case handling, helping claimants correctly understand relevant policies and laws, and promoting acceptance of judgments. Judicial administrative organs and legal aid institutions shall strengthen case quality management, improving supervision mechanisms based on the characteristics of state compensation cases, using methods such as case quality assessments, file inspections and evaluations, and claimant follow-ups to conduct quality oversight, with emphasis on tracking major, difficult, and complex cases to enhance case quality. If people's courts discover illegal conduct by legal aid personnel or actions harming claimants' interests, they shall promptly notify the legal aid institution to urge compliance with laws and regulations.
5. Innovating the Mechanism for Extending the Effectiveness of Legal Aid in State Compensation
People's courts and legal aid institutions shall establish a dispute mediation working mechanism, guiding legal aid personnel to choose the most favorable method for resolving disputes for the compensation claimants. For cases with simple facts, clear circumstances, and minor disputes, mediation shall be adopted as much as possible based on the claimant's wishes, striving to achieve case closure and dispute resolution. A diversified dispute resolution mechanism shall be established to guide legal aid personnel in properly handling and resolving disputes according to law, endeavoring to address the reasonable demands of compensation claimants, providing comfort to citizens who have been detained without guilt, and strengthening humanistic care and psychological counseling for compensation claimants by introducing social workers into legal aid work and setting up psychological hotlines, aiming to achieve the unity of legal and social effects. A publicity and guidance mechanism shall be established to increase publicity efforts, fully utilizing newspapers, television, the internet, and other media to widely promote state compensation legal aid work, promptly summarizing and disseminating good experiences and practices emerging from the work, creating a favorable atmosphere for the development of state compensation legal aid, and promoting advanced models and experiences through various forms to further consolidate work achievements.
