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China's legal-aid system and a special
chapter interpreting legal aid was included. It stipulates:
"Citizens who cannot afford a retaining fee when they
need legal help for alimony, industrial injury, lawsuit, State
compensation and legally set pensions, may receive legal aid
according to regulations."
Taking account
of the fact that women are particularly vulnerable in penal
cases, in 1996 the Ministry of Justice printed and distributed
the Regulations of Legal Aid to Women and Protection of Women's
Legal Rights and Interests. It makes clear that legal-aid
organs, law offices, notary departments and grassroots legal
service agencies should not delay, without good reason, women's
claims, appeals and prosecutions when their rights and interests
are infringed. Legal service fees should be reduced or exempted
accordingly for female parties unable to pay.
At present,
legal-aid agencies have been set up in 28 provincial, autonomous
regional and municipal judiciary departments. On September
1, 2003, the Legal Aid Regulations were brought into effect.
It is the first national legal aid legislation in China. It
clarifies that it is governmental duty to hire attorneys to
help the poor and weak, a group in which women make up a significant
proportion. Women's Federations at various levels and local
judiciary departments have set up legal-aid co-ordination
organs with the aim of safeguarding women's rights and interests.
Examples include the Jiangsu Provincial Legal Aid Centre For
Women's Rights and Interests; the Women's Rights Department
under the Heilongjiang Provincial Legal Aid Centre and the
Women's Aid Station under the Fujian Provincial Legal Aid
Centre. In addition, a number of provinces and
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