Minister of Justice Zhang Fusen told a press conference in Beijing that such a law is "important and necessary" for the future development of the fledgling legal aid system in the country.

"We have the conditions ready for the drafting of such a law, with the sound development of the legal aid system itself and some local regulations on it," said Zhang.

He said his ministry is working closely with relevant departments to produce the legislation.

Laws, such as the Criminal Procedure Law and the Lawyers Law, stipulate that Chinese citizens who have sufficient evidence that their legitimate rights have been infringed upon, but cannot afford the ensuing legal bill, are entitled to legal aid, and made the service an obligation of lawyers. However, at present, there is no uniformed law clarifying the details of the practice across the country.

Legislation efforts on the provincial level have been intensive in recent years. Following the first provincial regulation in South China's Guangdong Province in mid 1999, so far seven provinces have passed local regulations on the legal aid system.

Based on these experiences and advice from foreign experts, the Legal Aid Center of the Ministry of Justice has already produced a draft that may lay a foundation for the future national law.

With the establishment of a legal aid center in Southwest China's Tibet last month, China now has equivalent institutions providing free legal assistance in all of its provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Official statistics indicate that, in the past five years, China's lawyers and notaries have provided legal advice to more than 4 million people, handled more than 500,000 cases and helped protect the rights of nearly 600,000 people under the legal aid system.

The system is being developed at a time that, under China's legal reform, the profession of lawyers has become a lucrative one, with high lawyers' fees. This is in sharp contrast to the past, when lawyers were paid by the government.

In light of this, measures have been taken to guarantee that a free legal aid service will be of the same quality as the paid one.

According to Gong Xiaobing, director of the ministry's Legal Aid Center, officials from the such centers often listen in on legal aid trials without informing the lawyers. They also talk to judges to learn about the lawyers' performance. Spot-checks on case files are also conducted among these centers, to ensure that the public are receiving adequate legal representation.

"We have tried to find legal aid cases that have been handled poorly but, so far, have failed to do so," said Gong. "The legal profession is such that success hinges greatly upon the lawyer's reputation. No one dares to risk his own reputation by taking legal aid cases lightly."

(China Daily 09/29/2001)