Chinese colleges are showing interest in providing legal aid
services for poor and disadvantaged people.
The law schools of two well-known Beijing-based universities,
People's University of China and Qinghua University, signed an
agreement Thursday with the city's Justice Bureau to cooperate on
legal aid activities.
Under the agreement, the law schools are the first in China to set
up volunteer legal aid centers on campus.
In
addition, seven Chinese colleges and universities including the two
above have added legal aid practice to their law students'
curriculums.
"Colleges boast advantages in human resources and academic
performance. They will provide powerful wisdom for China's legal
aid undertaking," said Qiang Wei, deputy secretary of the Beijing
Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Legal aid is a system providing non-profit legal services for poor
and disadvantaged people at a reduced cost or free of charge, to
help them protect their legitimate interests.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, there are
more than 2,300 legal aid institutions in China, involving over
8,000 professionals. Last year, more than 300,000 people received
legal aid nationwide.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2002)