The Ministry of Justice appealed to the public yesterday for
increased financial support for China's legal aid system during the
kick-off of a series of charity activities.
The activities include charity performances in Shenzhen,
Zhejiang Province and Beijing in October, November and December
respectively and campaigns to popularize the legal aid system.
The ministry's Legal Aid Center will also cooperate with the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in issuing a credit card
whose holders will be exempted from the first-year's annual fee in
return for paying a smaller sum of money as a donation to the
nation's legal aid foundation.
Legal aid provides legal assistance to people who cannot afford
the services of lawyers. By the end of last June, nearly 2,700
legal aid institutions had been set up across China. They have
provided service to more than 6.41 million people and handled more
than 800,000 legal aid cases between 1997 and last year.
The lack of money is a major obstacle in the development of the
legal aid system in China, ministry sources said.
"The government has increased financial support for legal aid
services but the demand for legal aid is steadily increasing as
China quickens its pace towards rule of law," said Zhang Fusen,
minister of justice. "We still cannot meet the demand of the public
for legal aid."
Yesterday's appeal followed the approval of China's first legal
aid regulation. The regulation, which will take effect at the
beginning of next month, stipulates that the government encourages
donations from the public to boost the nation's legal aid service.
The donation hotlines are (8610) 6711-9276, 6710-4390 and
6710-4391.
(China Daily?August 7, 2003)