On Government Responsibility In Countryside Legal Aid

Legal aid is a legal system that the state lessens, exempts the expenses in litigation and legal services of social week groups and the party of some particular case in order to protect the legal rights accorded to citizens by the Constitution and law. Government responsibility is the foundation of the development of modern legal aid theory. The strength of government's undertaking legal and responsibility has become a sign of judging the legal system building of the social civilization.Since the promulgation of "Legal assistance regulation" on July 21, 2003, the legal aid of China has developed greatly. However, there are some problems exists in the implementation of our government responsibility. The study on government responsibility of legal aid stays mainly on the macroscopic domain and most articles aim at the city not the countryside. The rural area which needs the legal aid most should be in the sunshine of legal aid. However the city's experience is not necessarily suitable for the countryside.Under this background, the paper explores the government responsibility in countryside legal aid, focuses on analyzing the obstacles of government responsibility in countryside legal aid in reality and gives some thoughts and suggestions. The paper consists of five parts.The first part is the origin of the study, which defines the concept and the principle of legal aid through a case and based on this make points that legal aid is within the government responsibility. The second part investigates the basis of the system of government undertaking the responsibility of the countryside legal aid, including the basis of legal principle, reality and system. It is determined by the fundamental principle of "equality before the law", which is also the demand of human rights protection and the goal of government's establishment. The disadvantaged position of peasants requires the government undertake the responsibility of countryside legal aid, which is also the requirements of building a harmonious society. The third part discusses the principle and scope of government undertaking the responsibility of countryside legal aid. It is recognized that the government responsibility should abide by the principles of tilting to the week group. The government should take limited responsibility and put the stress of legal aid on the peasants losing the land, rural workers and aging peasants due to the particular geographic environment of countryside. The fourth part explores the subject of implementation and undertaken mechanism of government responsibility in countryside legal aid, which suggests building a mode of macro-management-based, supplemented by the micro-management, namely, the state's aid subsidiary with the legal aid of social licensed lawyers, public notaries, legal assistants at the grass roots communities, social and non-government organizations. The fifth part discusses fiscal guarantee measures of government responsibility in countryside, including establishing specific financial allocation system and minimum fund guarantee system, strengthening the government's management of legal aid fund. The township public fiscal should be reformed to accelerate the development of the countryside legal aid fundamentally and fill up the fund deficiency of legal aid.