Download
An increasing number of foreigners are receiving legal aid, mostly for criminal cases, a senior official said.
There has been a 15 percent annual increase, since 2008, of foreigners availing of free legal aid, Sun Jianying, director of the legal aid department under the Ministry of Justice told China Daily in an exclusive interview.
Most of the cases involved violent crime, such as drug smuggling, rape and robbery, as well as financial crimes, like fraud, she said.
Recipients were mostly from African, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries, Sun said.
The exact number of foreigners who received free legal aid last year was not disclosed. However, taking Guangdong province, a key region in China's opening up, as an example, authorities there handled 808 legal aid cases involving foreigners since 2008. This represented an annual 21 percent increase, according to figures from the Guangdong justice department.
More than 54 million foreigners arrived and departed from China in 2011, a figure that doubled over the decade.
The number of foreigners staying in China for more than six months hit 600,000 last year, up from about 20,000 in 1980. A foreign defendant in a criminal case, according to the law, can have a lawyer appointed by the court if they are unable to hire one.
Foreigners involved in civil cases can also receive legal aid if they are short of funds and their country has a judicial agreement with China.
The majority of legal aid services are offered to foreign defendants in criminal cases, Sun said.
Li Xuelian, another official with the legal aid department at the Ministry of Justice, said that they have set up a database of 200,000 qualified volunteer lawyers who can offer free legal help. About a third of these lawyers can communicate in English, Li said.
For non-English speakers, legal aid authorities in a number of cities, such as Guangzhou and Nanjing, have agreements with translation companies, Li said. The costs are borne by the government, he said.
Sun, from the ministry, acknowledged that there are many practical challenges to provide legal assistance to foreigners.
"Most of the foreign suspects don't trust Chinese lawyers and won't communicate with lawyers at the beginning," she said.
Moreover, legal aid authorities have difficulties in employing lawyers to defend suspects who don't speak English.
The ministry plans to establish a talent pool of lawyers, and divide them into categories based on the languages they speak, Sun said.
About the broadcaster:
Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.
雅思阅读全解析-改进句子阅读速度
雅思阅读全解析-增加阅读速度
雅思阅读高分策略:合理安排做题顺序
雅思阅读全解析-时间是最大的敌人
雅思阅读全解析-运用语法知识核对答案
雅思阅读实用高分秘籍
雅思阅读8种题型解题方法(摘要、填空题型)
雅思阅读全解析-查找同近义词、相关词
雅思阅读全解析-三点相符原则检查答案
雅思阅读全解析-图表形式出现的问句
雅思阅读全解析-围绕关键词及短语找出答案
雅思阅读全解析-阅读每段文章的主题句
雅思阅读全解析-掌握句子顺序上的变化
如何通过阅读英文报章提高雅思写作能力
雅思阅读全解析-一个问题只能有一个答案
雅思阅读8种题型解题方法(配对题)
雅思阅读全解析-查看试题布局
雅思考试需养成良好的阅读习惯
雅思阅读全解析-按逻辑顺序进行阅读
雅思阅读答题方法全解析-完成图表、示意图题型
雅思基础阅读难句解析-插入结构(3)
雅思阅读答题方法全解析-辨别正误题型
雅思基础阅读难句解析-平行结构(3)
浅析雅思阅读中连接上下文的信号词
雅思阅读答题方法全解析-匹配题型
推荐提高雅思阅读的英文网站
雅思阅读全解析-猜读词义
雅思基础阅读难句解析-平行结构(10)
雅思阅读8种题型解题方法(回答问题)
雅思基础阅读难句解析-插入结构(8)
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |