Located on the top floor of a nondescript building in a quiet
block in the Fengtai District of Beijing, the Zhicheng Law Office
has made itself known for its Beijing Juvenile Legal Aid and
Research Center.
The office, set up in August 1999, provides legal assistance to
juveniles for free and is the first in the country to get approval
from legal authorities to provide such service.
Over the past two and half years, the center has worked on 3,693
cases dealing with the infringement of juvenile interests.
Qiu Pei, a laid-off woman from Chengdu, capital of southwest
China's Sichuan Province, won a lawsuit on her son's inheritance
rights in April with the help of Zhicheng.
Qiu said she and her eight-year-old son owe many thanks to the
law office, whose name means "utmost sincerity."
Qiu's former husband Guan Linde, whom she divorced seven years
ago, died of cancer last year and left her son a legacy worth some
100 million yuan (over US$12 million), but her son did not receive
it because of the intervention of Guan's brother.
Qiu went to court, pleading the rights of her son. The lawsuit
went on for over one year and her efforts turned out to be
fruitless though she hired four lawyers and paid them more than
10,000 yuan (over US$1,200).
Qiu turned to Zhicheng this March and Zhang Xuemei, a
27-year-old lawyer with the office, was assigned to deal with the
case.
"I knew nothing about the law, but they did everything they
could to help me," Qiu said. "Without their help, I wouldn't even
know what proof I needed to collect."
Director Tong Lihua of the Zhicheng Law Office said that their
work for juvenile interests has been supported by the Communist
Youth League of China (CYLC),
the largest youth organization in China, which in 1998 initiated a
program calling for society's and the government's awareness in
safeguarding juvenile interests and rights.
"Our close cooperation with CYLC boosted our efficiency and
brought more young people under the shelter of this service," Tong
said.
However, Tong said more people and organizations needed to be
concerned about young peoples' interests and rights.
"If there had been such a service in Chengdu, it wouldn't have
been necessary for our lawyer to go there for the case," he
said.
A coordinating network providing legal assistance to young
people was launched in 1999 on the proposal of the Zhicheng Law
Office. Over 120 lawyers from 24 cities have joined the network,
most of whom are under 35 years old.
"But we need more professionals to join, as many new problems
concerning juvenile rights will emerge with the development of
society," Tong said.
Currently, a special service for the protection of juvenile
interests and rights is being established in Tianjin, a port
municipality in north China, in Fuzhou, capital of east China's
Fujian Province, and in Shaanxi Province.
Zhang Xiaoliang, an official with CYLC said CYLC will promote
the service in more provincial capitals and other major cities this
year and further expand it nationwide in coming years.
Zhang said he hopes his organization can do more to protect
juveniles' interests and rights.
(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2003)