In criminal proceedings, in case of legal particulars of a matter or gross cases, i.e. when the people’s court shall, subject to aforementioned laws and regulations, appoint lawyers to provide legal aids, the legal aid procedures will be fulfilled by the court and the legal aid system without the litigants’care. In case of other conditions, to acquire legal aids shall be applied by the litigants themselves or their legal guardians and will not realized unless upon review and approval.

 

In criminal proceedings where no defenders are appointed by the court and other non-criminal proceedings, the litigants who intend to acquire legal aids shall apply in writing to the local legal aid organization which locates in the same the region with the governing court. For instance, if you live in City A and intend to bring an action against your children in City B for payment for support of parents, you shall apply to the legal aid organization in City B for legal aids.

 

If in needs of legal aids for non-litigation legal affairs, the applicants shall apply to the legal aid organization which locates in the same region with their domiciles or work units. A list of addresses and telephone numbers of the legal aid organizations in the major cities in China is attached to this book for your reference.

 

According to relevant provisions, the legal aid organization shall, within 20 days upon receipt of your formal application in writing, review the application and resolve to approval it or not with reply served to you. In case you dissent from that organization’s resolution that no legal aid will be provided, you are entitled to request another review by the legal aid organization.

 

In case of emergency or exception, taking the above case for example, if your children who fail to fulfill their support obligations are going to go abroad and you have apply for legal aid, the legal aid organization may, upon your application, grant the legal aid directly and review and resolve whether to approve the application later.

 

After the legal aid organization approves to provide legal aid and appoints the legal service or personnel providing such aid, you shall conclude a legal aid agreement with the legal aid organization and provider to define rights and responsibilities respectively. The legal aid provider is liable to provide legal aid subject to requirements of that agreement.