Legal aid quality underscored in China's new draft law

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A draft law on legal aid has stipulated more specific and detailed provisions to guarantee the quality of legal aid in China.

The draft of the legislation was submitted Monday to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for a second reading.

The draft law calls on judicial administration departments to establish a complaint handling system, and to inform the complainants of the results in a timely manner.

It also stipulates that an information disclosure system on legal aid should be set up by judicial administration departments and legal aid agencies, releasing information concerning the use of legal aid funds and the handling of cases to the public on a regular basis.

Governments at or above the county level should improve the legal aid guarantee system and include legal aid-related funds into their budgets, in a move to promote the balanced development of legal aid, according to the draft.

The second draft also defines further expanding the coverage of legal aid.