A Study On The Legal Aid System In Taiwan

Legal aid generally refers to organized assistance to persons in need of professional legal help but not able to afford the litigation fees and the attorney's bills. While legal aid systems have been long established in other countries, it was launched in Taiwan only a few yea ago, mainly due to the efforts of the "League for Promoting Reforms on Three Judicial Law" ("LPRTL"), a non-government entity composed of groups formed by legal professionals and activities for human right, social movement, labor rights, women rights and other indigent groups. The League made its mission for the enactment of three critical statutes, i.e. Legal Aid Law, Judge Law, and organization Laws of the Judicial Yuan, and aimed to substantiate the litigation right and the spirit of equality protected by the Constitution by way of pursuing litigation equality, as well as improvement of the quality of judicial decisions and judiciary efficiency. This study, therefore, will focus on the development of the legal aid system in Taiwan and discuss relevant issues. The first chapter is a comparative examination of the legal aid laws in other countries, aimed to understand the system envisioned in various legislations, the relationship between the system and the basic principle of the Constitutions and its bearings with the basic principles of civil law and criminal law. The second chapter will spell out the frame work of the newly passed Legal Aid Law in Taiwan, the rationale behind the legislation and other background data such as discussion and negotiations among the law makers on each provision of the law. The third chapter will introduce the...