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Legal aid refers to a social security system where legal support is provided by government-established legal aid agencies or law firm-affiliated lawyers to economically disadvantaged individuals or parties in special cases. However, China's legal aid system differs significantly from most countries. The Chinese government establishes legal aid centers, manages their operations, and bears the financial burden, including staff salaries, while encouraging private foundations to support legal aid activities. It also fosters the participation of private lawyers in legal aid by establishing various systems and mechanisms. The essence of legal aid is public service. China's legal aid system is undergoing several developmental stages to rapidly establish a comprehensive national system. The state first proposed the legal aid system, then implemented the followed by the enactment and promulgation of the , clarifying the responsibilities and obligations of the state and individuals towards legal aid. National legal aid centers were established to employ specialized staff for legal aid work, allowing lawyers to handle legal aid cases or participate in legal aid consultations through these centers. Considering China's national policy, special legal aid systems have been established for various groups, like migrant workers and retired military personnel. To enhance efficiency and enable more citizens to access legal aid, legal service websites have been developed to provide online legal consultations. Additionally, a national public legal service hotline offers legal aid through phone consultations. Despite these developments, China's legal aid system faces numerous challenges due to its vast territory and large population, leading to imbalances in urban development and national income. This results in issues like staff and budget shortages in some legal aid centers. Therefore, a key future challenge is to make the national legal aid system more accessible to those in need and to develop solutions for issues related to manpower and budget.
Qi Liang (Sun,) studied this question.