Abstract

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Title:: Examining Legal Aid System Through the Lens of Equal Rights: With Special Reference to the “Different Assistances for the Same Case” Issue Among Duty Lawyers

Keywords:: formal equality; substantive equality; duty lawyers; public defenders; unified team; confession of guilt and leniency in punishment

Abstract:: The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has proposed to build a public legal service system covering urban and rural areas, embodying the concept of equal development of public legal services. Legal aid, a pivotal component of the contemporary public legal service system, necessitates equalization as a fundamental obligation to ensure the equal rights of citizens in legal proceedings. However, as one of the most important forms of legal aid in China, the system of duty lawyers faces significant issues in its practical operation, such as varying individual abilities, varying levels of diligence, and limited litigation rights of the lawyers. This also seriously affects the protection of equal rights for the defendants in criminal proceedings. Moreover, duty lawyers are an important component of reforms such as leniency in confession and punishment, and full coverage of lawyer defense. How to improve the effectiveness of legal assistance directly affects the legitimacy basis of the reforms. In the paper, we argue that the reform of turning duty lawyers into public defenders is the key to solving the problem. Specifically, we should promote the unified construction of the duty lawyer team, improve and optimize the allocation of allowances and subsidies for duty lawyers, and at the same time implement the various responsibilities of duty lawyers under the leniency system for confession and punishment.