The National Institute of Legal Aid (NILA), CUPL, established on 19 January, 2018, marks the beginning of a new era where the Chinese legal aid undertakings have been moving on to the stage of legislative and theoretical research from the institution-building. It demonstrates that Chinese legal aid system has finished the first stage, i.e. “born from nothing”, and now is marching towards a new stage, i.e. “going for the excellent”. Meanwhile, the Institute will also play a significant role in the improvement of Public welfare legal service consciousness and legal education of people dedicated to making contributions to the rule of law.
Background
“To improve legal aid system” is one of the tasks of a throughout reform approved by the Third Plenary Session and the Fourth Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee. It is also a historic mission and demand of the times for the construction of socialistic rule of law with Chinese characteristics in the new era. The report of the 19th National Congress states that the main conflict in our society has changed to the conflict between people’s growing needs for a better life and the imbalanced and insufficient development. The rule of law is an important aspect of a better life. Recognizing the importance of legal aid in satisfying people’s growing needs for legal service, China should not only continue its efforts to develop legal aid work, but also promote the research on theory and legislation.
The most have realized that legal aid is not just one of the crucial parts of the rule of law and the current judicial reform, but an important factor for a better life of modern society. To ensure an accessible, affordable, equitable, effective, credible and sustainable legal aid services to those who are in need of legal aid, the development and improvement of Chinese legal aid system must be based on the features of China’s social development, and the essential mission thereof is to guarantee the right to fair trial and legal assistance. With regard to the right to legal aid, importance should be attached to the quality of legal aid service, as well as the coverage of it. The comprehensive quality assurance system is a sine qua non of a more credible, sustainable and dynamic legal aid system.
In March 2018, on the First Plenary Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress, the motion of Legal Aid Act was proposed by the deputies. On 22th October, 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress accepted the proposal and has been working on the draft of Legal Aid Act.
Goals
As the first think-tank institute on legal aid in China, NILA will focus not only on the research of fundamental theories of legal aid, but also on the legislation policies and implementation problems. The Institute will provide both theoretical and technical support for the development and improvement of China’s legal aid system, thereby improving the Chinese legal aid system.
NILA is committed to strengthen the academic research on basic theories, legislation policy and implementation problems, aiming at providing a solid theoretical foundation for the long-term development of legal aid system in China. It seeks to promote the legislation of legal aid system, expand the coverage of legal assistance, consistently improve the quality of legal aid service. Also, the Institute tries to actively engage in international cooperation and collaboration in the field of legal aid work, learns the legal aid system and practices abroad and provides the world with Chinese practices, examples, as well as experience.
Moreover, the Institute will serve as a platform for cooperation between academic circles and legal aid practices. It endeavors to introduce high-quality judicial resources to the universities, offer courses on non-profit legal services with the help of legal aid lawyers, and actively participate in the training of high-qualified legal professionals that possess both legal skills and political integrity. Based on the academic advantages of CUPL, the Institute will provide high-quality training courses, aiming at providing high-level legal aid training services for society. It will strive to become a national training center for legal aid lawyers.
NILA is working closely with the Legal Aid Agency, Ministry of Justice, and the Standing Committee of the NPC of China on the drafting of the on-going Legal Aid Law.
Members
Honorary Dean, Professor Chongyi Fan
Professor Chongyi Fan, one of the 100 jurists who have powerful and far-reaching influence on the development of the rule of law in China, is a well-known professor of law and Ph.D. supervisor.
Professor Fan is also the deputy director of Behavioral Law of China Law Society, deputy director of China Procuratorial Society, consultant of China Prison Association, consultant of Institute of Criminal Procedure Law Committee of China Law Society, member of the Advisory Committee of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, member of the Advisory Committee of the Department of Directing Lawyers and Notarization, adjunct professor of National Prosecutors College of P.R.C, Chinese Academy of Governance, National Judges College and etc., supervisor for expert consulting and law enforcement of People's High Court and People’s Procuratorate of Beijing, and deputy director of Institute of Procedure Law of Beijing.
Professor Fan has been teaching and researching in the field of criminal procedure law, evidence law and judicial system for more than 40 years and has made enormous achievements in philosophical research of criminal procedure law and evidence. Among others, his research on the truth theory of judicial adjudication has promoted the modern developments of Chinese jurisprudence of criminal procedure system and evidence rules。
Dean, Professor Hongyao Wu
Professor Hongyao Wu is an outstanding senior professor of criminal procedure law and Chinese expert of legal aid research. He is one of the consultant researchers of Institute of Procuratorial Theory of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and one of the first ten station-researchers of the Supreme People's Court. He is also an adjunct professor of National Prosecutors College of P.R.C.
Professor Wu studied philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy, Zhengzhou University (1992-1996) and criminal procedure law at the Post-graduate School, CUPL for his Masterʼs degree and Ph.D. degree (1996-1999, 1999-2002). Since 2002, as a full-time researcher at CUPL, he teaches and researches in the fields of criminal procedure law, evidence and criminal justice, with particular emphasis on philosophical, comparative and international perspectives. In the following years, as an elemental member, he joined several legislating activities of legal drafts, e.g. the draft of Uniform Evidence Law led by Prof. Wei Jiang in 2004; Model Code of Criminal Procedure law led by Prof. Weidong Chen in 2005; the Revision of Organic Law of the People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China led by Prof. Chongyi Fan in 2005; the Expert Draft for Re-amendment to Criminal Procedural Law led by Prof. Guangzhong Chen in 2006. Now, he is also the Executive Chief Editor of Zhong Guo Su Song Fa Pan Jie (Journal of Procedural Law Cases), and Associate Chief-editor of Su Song Fa Xue Yan Jiu (Chinese Journal of Procedural Law).
In 2012, working with Mr. Lihua Tong, China’s Public Interest Law Leader, and professor Yongzhong Gu, an outstanding professor of law and criminal defense counsel, he founded the Criminal Legal Aid Research Center at CUPL. Besides running a consultation service hotline, a criminal legal aid website and representing some typical cases, the Criminal Legal Aid Researcher Center focuses on the policy and practice of the Procedure for Review of Death Sentences in the People’s Supreme Court of China. Two main projects of the Center were finished in past years: One is the Innocence Project which is the first legal aid project for indigent prisoners of murder cases in China. Another is the research on the Legal Aid System of Death Penalty Cases reviewed by the People’s Supreme Court.
On 19th January, 2018, National Institute of Legal Aid was established with the support of China University of Political Science and Law and MOJ and Professor Wu was appointed as the first dean of NILI.
Chief Researcher, Professor Yongzhong Gu
Professor Yongzhong Gu, chief researcher of NILA, is a senior professor of law and a Ph.D. supervisor. He also serves as the vice-chairman of Chinese Criminal Procedure Law Committee, the deputy director of the Criminal Affair Committee of All China Lawyers Association, the honorary director of Beijing Dongwei Law Firm and part-time lawyer.
Ever since the year of 1982, Prof. Gu has long been engaged in the teaching and research work of criminal law, criminal procedure law, criminal justice reform, lawyer system, criminal defense and criminal legal aid. He has published over 100 high-class articles in China’s top-level academic journals, such as China Legal Science, Chinese Journal of Law, Tribune of Political Science and Law, Jurists Review. Furthermore, more than 30 monographs and textbooks on law have been independently or collaboratively published by him.
He acted as a partner and part-time lawyer in East & Concord Partners before he joined in Beijing Dongwei Law Firm as an honorary director and part-time lawyer. Prof. Gu has undertaken a large number of domestically and internationally far-reaching cases, such as the case of Yongkang Zhou, since he became a practiced lawyer at the end of 1994.
Lawyer Mingyong Zhu
Mr. Mingyong Zhu, the director of Goldendoor Law firm and the co-director of Criminal Trial Advocacy Center, CUPL, is the vice dean of Criminal Defense Advanced Research Institute of Northwest University of Politic Science and Law and the standing director of China Case Law Studies Association. His book “Advocacy of Innocence”, published by Tsinghua University Press, won the best-selling award legal genre of 2015.
Lawyer Zhu has represented several famous wrongful convicted cases nationwide, such as the case of Tingxin Ma (Henan province), who was accused of murdering a whole family; the case of Chonggang Li (Guizhou province), who was accused of organizing and leading a criminal syndicate; the case of Hui Zhang and his nephew (Zhejiang province), who were accused of raping and intentional homicide; and the case of Zhengyao Zhang (Fujian province), who was accused of corruption. All above defendants have been acquitted and released, making Mr. Zhu one of the best-known criminal defense counsels in China.
Lawyer Dr. Lixin Mao
Dr. Lixin Mao is the director of Shangquan Law Firm, the first and the best law firm specializing in criminal defense in China. He is also the vice-director of Criminal Trial Advocacy Center, CUPL, standing director of China Case Law Studies Association and Master’s supervisor in Beijing Normal University.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Anhui University, and Master’s Degree and Ph.D. from Chinese People’s Public Security University. He once served in Anhui Public Security Department and Beijing Normal University Criminal Law Institute, and has been engaged in criminal offence investigating, criminal law teaching and research for about 10 years.
His research interests include Criminal Procedure law, Criminal Evidence Law and Criminal Investigation Law. He has published the book “On Investigation of Rule of Law” and more than 60 articles in reputed journals. Besides, he is the editor in-chief of “Win the Defense: Innocence Advocacy Cases of Shangquan”.
Since 2007, he joined Shangquan Law Office, specializing in criminal defense. He processed several retrial cases where defendants were acquitted of the charges finally, such as the case of Shijin Zhao (Chuzhou City, Anhui Province), who was accused of contract fraud; the case of Beijing lawyer Zhang, who was accused of extortion; the case of Han Liu, who was accused of crimes by criminal syndicate; the case of Jinlong Xu and other three (Putian City, Fujian Province), who were accused of robbery and intentional homicide; and the case of Xinhua Miu (Ningde City, Fujian Province), who was accused of intentional homicide.
