Apply for legal aid if you cannot afford a case
Wage claims, maintenance and support payments, social insurance or subsistence benefits, work-injury matters, and civil rights arising from helping others in an emergency may qualify. Call 12348 or visit the local legal aid center. You no longer have to return to your place of origin for a financial-hardship certificate; give a truthful account of your finances. Certain criminal defendants, including those facing the death penalty and defendants who are blind, deaf, unable to speak, or minors, receive appointed counsel regardless of means.
What it takes
Free. Legal aid providers must not charge the person receiving aid.
What you may gain
The State Council’s legal-aid regulations list six civil categories: claims for state compensation; social insurance or minimum-living-assistance benefits; pensions or relief payments; support for parents, children, or other dependants; labor remuneration; and civil rights arising from acts of public-spirited assistance. In practical terms, these include recovering wages, claiming support payments, obtaining benefits, and seeking compensation after being harmed while helping someone. In criminal cases, the listed defendants facing a possible death sentence, and blind, deaf, mute, or juvenile defendants, are assigned a lawyer without a financial-means requirement.
Context & considerations
The Legal Aid Law took effect on 1 January 2022. It replaced the requirement to submit a financial-hardship certificate with a truthful statement of financial circumstances, removing the need to travel home to obtain a certificate. Contact a local legal aid center, public legal-service center, or 12348.
Research & references
State Council (2003). Legal Aid Regulations, Order 385, Articles 10–12. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2008-03/28/content_6944.htm; Ministry of Justice (2021). Questions and answers on implementing the Legal Aid Law. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-12/29/content_5665114.htm.