Vice-minister of justice wants improved legal aid system

Xiong Xuanguo, vice-minister of justice, urged that all sides should work to improve the legal aid system in a national legal training class on August 29.

In May 2015, opinions on improving China's legal aid system were passed to strengthen the overall legal framework. Xiong emphasized the need to implement the opinions based on the achievements of earlier reforms.

According to Xiong, it's necessary to expand the scope of legal aid and improve its quality. Legal aid expenditures should also be elevated by grouping all legal aid funds into one centralized budget for each level, increasing fiscal funding and strengthening supervision over expenditures.

Legal aid organizations in all regions, Xiong pointed out, should take an active part in the construction of public legal service platforms and strengthen standard window service to more readily assist the general public.

Xiong said that a judicial administration case base must be established where typical cases reflecting legal aid system innovation are selected to educate people and raise their legal awareness.

He urged all sides to take steps in criminal procedure system reform to recognize legal aid's role in guaranteeing human rights and promoting justice.