Legal Aid System Research Articles

An Exploration of the Legal Aid System in Colleges and Universities in the New Era from the Perspective of Realist Legal Education

The construction of university legal aid is an important part of China’s legal aid system, and also an important reform task in deepening the reform of the judicial system proposed by the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. However, as China’s legal education mode is still dominated by traditional theoretical teaching and case teaching methods, teachers’ pure compulsory guidance, as the main body of legal aid organizations in colleges and universities, will inevitably increase their research pressure. Students’ voluntary participation takes up a lot of time and increases their academic pressure, and the development of legal aid organizations in colleges and universities also falls into a dilemma. From the perspective of realistic legal education, this paper deeply studies the development model of legal aid center, pursues the rationality of the legal aid system in colleges and universities, and proposes to formulate the grading standard of legal aid in colleges and universities from the construction and ontology dimension of legal aid system in colleges and universities. The legal aid system of colleges and universities should be improved from four aspects: party building, social union, student organization, and network operation. This puts forward the university legal aid “1+4” solution measures. Through exploring the common measures of legal aid construction in universities, the legal aid of universities has become an important force in the development of public legal service causes in the country.

Challenges Afflicting Indian Courts

The Indian legal system faces numerous challenges that impact nearly every court across the nation. Key issues include a heavy caseload coupled with inadequate court facilities, personnel, and equipment. The wealth disparity exacerbates inequalities, placing the poor in a position where they struggle more intensely to access justice. Additionally, slow judicial proceedings, a shortage of judges, and a failure to adopt technology are contributing factors to ongoing delays. Allegations of corruption within the judiciary, lawyers' strikes, a lack of specialist expertise among judges, ineffective legal aid systems, linguistic barriers among individuals, irregularities in case listings, opaque processes for the appointment and transfer of judges, and the executive's tendency to disregard the Supreme Court collegium's recommendations for judiciary appointments and promotions based on selective intelligence reports are significant challenges. Furthermore, some judges exhibit political biases that may seek future favors, and the temporary nature of public prosecutor positions alongside biased selection processes complicates matters. Addressing these issues requires comprehensive reforms, increased funding for the sector, and a firm commitment to proper legal practices.

Надання безоплатної правової допомоги населенню у процесі здійснювання навчальної діяльності: аспекти міжнародного та українського історичного досвіду

The article highlights the issues of international and Ukrainian historical experience of providing legal aid in general, and frees legal aid in the course of educational activities in particular. The author traces the peculiarities of this process from its origins to the present day. The author argues that the provision of free legal aid in the context of educational activities is a multifaceted process which, both in the world and in Ukraine, has been taking place for centuries in various forms and under the influence of various factors. It is emphasized that its undoubted prerequisite was the legalization of the legal profession and the establishment of an extensive system of legal education. The author emphasizes that these facts were the result of the growing importance of law in the process of regulation of social relations. The author analyzes the main stages and features of the European historical experience of legal aid in the period of Antiquity, theMiddle Ages and theModern era. The author also considers some historical experience of providing free legal aid in the context of educational activities which took place in Ukraine. The author proves that Ancient Rome was a pioneer in creating an extensive system of legal education and developing various forms of legal aid. The author establishes that the real establishment of the system of free legal aid, in particular, in the course of educational activities, took place only in the 1920s, and at first it was localized and limited mainly to the United States. It is argued that its implementation became possible as a result of a long scientific discussion in previous years, during which a new approach to legal training with a priority on practice was developed, and a form of such training – “legal clinic” – was found. The author shows that legal clinical education is considered to be one of the most effective today. The nature and peculiarities of the spread of legal clinical education, as well as the development of the relevant legal framework in Ukraine are traced.

Research on the Participation and Role Positioning of Lawyers in China's Legal Aid System

Research on the Participation and Role Positioning of Lawyers in China's Legal Aid System

Негосударственная система бесплатной юридической помощи в Российской Федерации: основные проблемы и перспективы

Purpose. Identification of problems that impede the progressive development of the legal education system in the Russian Federation, reflection of the role and importance of legal advice in the field of strengthening and developing practical skills. Identification of the degree of influence on the existing system of legal education in the Russian Federation of state policy in the field of regulation and formation of a system of free legal assistance. Methodology: dialectics, analysis and synthesis, formal legal, comparative legal, logical, method of interpreting legal norms, philosophical conceptology. Conclusions. Today, the development of the free legal aid system leads to the fact that in the absence of funding, many legal advice centers created at universities risk not being in demand. In modern conditions, many legal consultations created at universities may be abolished. In the future, the management of individual universities may relieve themselves of the obligation to provide legal consultations or relevant educational programs. The main reasons for abolition may also be the student’s lack of real opportunity to obtain practical skills in government bodies and the judicial system (impossibility of practical participation in judicial proceedings). Scientific and practical relevance. The article is aimed at identifying existing problems in the legal education system in the Russian Federation, which have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the education system in the field of development and strengthening the final level of practical qualifications of a graduate of a legal educational institution. In addition, the article substantiates the need to eliminate the identified problems.

중국의 법률구조제도

Legal aid refers to a social security system where legal support is provided by government-established legal aid agencies or law firm-affiliated lawyers to economically disadvantaged individuals or parties in special cases. However, China's legal aid system differs significantly from most countries. The Chinese government establishes legal aid centers, manages their operations, and bears the financial burden, including staff salaries, while encouraging private foundations to support legal aid activities. It also fosters the participation of private lawyers in legal aid by establishing various systems and mechanisms. The essence of legal aid is public service. China's legal aid system is undergoing several developmental stages to rapidly establish a comprehensive national system. The state first proposed the legal aid system, then implemented the <Legal aid regulations> followed by the enactment and promulgation of the <Legal Aid Law of the people's Republic of China>, clarifying the responsibilities and obligations of the state and individuals towards legal aid. National legal aid centers were established to employ specialized staff for legal aid work, allowing lawyers to handle legal aid cases or participate in legal aid consultations through these centers. Considering China's national policy, special legal aid systems have been established for various groups, like migrant workers and retired military personnel. To enhance efficiency and enable more citizens to access legal aid, legal service websites have been developed to provide online legal consultations. Additionally, a national public legal service hotline offers legal aid through phone consultations. Despite these developments, China's legal aid system faces numerous challenges due to its vast territory and large population, leading to imbalances in urban development and national income. This results in issues like staff and budget shortages in some legal aid centers. Therefore, a key future challenge is to make the national legal aid system more accessible to those in need and to develop solutions for issues related to manpower and budget.

System of Free Legal Aid: Regarding the Problems of Terminology

System of Free Legal Aid: Regarding the Problems of Terminology

Empowering MSMEs: Unravelling the Essence of Business Law and Brand Protection in Indonesia

In the context of Indonesia, as a country with a very large number of MSMEs, a good understanding of the role of business law and trademark protection is a very important capital to create a conducive and sustainable business climate for MSMEs. Along with a better understanding, it is also expected that there will be an increased awareness of the importance of trademark registration and business law protection for MSMEs in Indonesia. This study explores the complex legal and trademark protection system that Indonesian MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) have to go through. Business registration procedures, compliance standards, and legal support present barriers that are revealed through normative analysis and further explained through interviews with experts. In addition, there are problems with brand protection procedures, such as difficult law enforcement and protracted brand registration procedures. The results are synthesized into normative solutions that suggest changes to the company's compliance, registration, legal aid, and brand protection systems. If put into practice, these solutions can empower MSMEs, encourage innovation, and boost the Indonesian economy. In addition, it is also important to create mechanisms that make it easier for MSMEs in the trademark registration process. Simple measures such as simplification of registration forms and improved accessibility of information on the registration process can greatly help MSMEs with limited resources and knowledge. These measures, along with the proposed normative solutions, can significantly improve MSME trademark protection, encourage innovation, and strengthen the Indonesian economy.

Interpretable Long-Form Legal Question Answering with Retrieval-Augmented Large Language Models

Many individuals are likely to face a legal dispute at some point in their lives, but their lack of understanding of how to navigate these complex issues often renders them vulnerable. The advancement of natural language processing opens new avenues for bridging this legal literacy gap through the development of automated legal aid systems. However, existing legal question answering (LQA) approaches often suffer from a narrow scope, being either confined to specific legal domains or limited to brief, uninformative responses. In this work, we propose an end-to-end methodology designed to generate long-form answers to any statutory law questions, utilizing a "retrieve-then-read" pipeline. To support this approach, we introduce and release the Long-form Legal Question Answering (LLeQA) dataset, comprising 1,868 expert-annotated legal questions in the French language, complete with detailed answers rooted in pertinent legal provisions. Our experimental results demonstrate promising performance on automatic evaluation metrics, but a qualitative analysis uncovers areas for refinement. As one of the only comprehensive, expert-annotated long-form LQA dataset, LLeQA has the potential to not only accelerate research towards resolving a significant real-world issue, but also act as a rigorous benchmark for evaluating NLP models in specialized domains. We publicly release our code, data, and models.

The Irish family, marital breakdown and the Josie Airey case, c. 1974-1981

Centring the role of women, particularly Josie Airey, this article outlines the activism and legal process that led to improvements in family law and the provision of civil legal aid for the first time by the Republic of Ireland. In tandem with the gradual liberalisation of Irish family law, the question of the provision of civil legal aid was set alight by the legal proceedings brought against the state by Josie Airey, which went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in 1973; though a ruling was not issued until 1979. In a country where society, the polity, the Catholic hierarchy and the Constitution demonstrated a deep fealty to the heteronormative model of family within marriage, and where a constitutional ban on divorce remained intact until 1996, this article explores the contextual significance of these developments in Irish society. Part one provides a systematic analysis of the changing legal status of married women from 1964-1976, connecting these changes directly with feminist activism. Part two examines the formation of the Free Legal Advice Campaign (FLAC), the Josie Airey case and the resultant limited system of free legal aid provided by the state from 1980. It is argued that feminist activism and the additional statutory pressure of Ireland’s status as an EEC member state were key factors for reform. Crucially, this research places the outcome of the Josie Airey case in the historical chronology of the expansion of married women’s rights, underscoring its importance in terms of public awareness of the intransigence of the Irish state in this area.

Performance evaluation method of legal aid system reform based on grey correlation analysis

Performance evaluation method of legal aid system reform based on grey correlation analysis

Administrative and legal principles of organization and functioning of the legal aid system in Ukraine : problems and prospects

Administrative and legal principles of organization and functioning of the legal aid system in Ukraine : problems and prospects

Criminal Procedural Protection of Human Rights in Conditions of an Armed Conflict

The purpose of the research is to disclose criminal procedural protection (defense) of human rights in conditions of an armed conflict. Interpretation of Article 45 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine in terms of limiting the constitutional right to choose a defense lawyer has been analyzed. A comparative analysis of current and European legislation in the sphere of access to legal aid is presented. Decisions of the ECtHR in the cases “Brusco v. France”, “Talat Tanci v. Turkey”, “Katz and others v. Ukraine” have been researched. The main issues related to participation of the defense party in criminal proceedings are highlighted. It has been theoretically established that an efficient implementation of the right to defense in criminal proceedings requires the application of the ECtHR practice, which serves as an additional effective mechanism for effective defense of human rights and representation of human interests in criminal proceedings. Scientific approaches to the introduction of a new system of legal aid and defense have been researched. A comparative analysis of current and European legislation in the sphere of access to legal aid is presented. Decisions of the ECtHR in the cases “Brusco v. France”, “Talat Tanci v. Turkey”, “Katz and others v. Ukraine” have been researched. The main issues related to participation of the defense party in criminal proceedings are highlighted. It has been theoretically established that an efficient implementation of the right to defense in criminal proceedings requires the application of the ECtHR practice, which serves as an additional effective mechanism for effective defense of human rights and representation of human interests in criminal proceedings. A conclusion has been drawn on the need to improve Ukrainian legislation in terms of determining the legal status of a defense attorney in criminal proceedings and bringing Ukrainian legislation closer to generally recognized international standards.

Legal education activity of subjects of management of the system of providing free legal aid

The scientific article describes current issues of legal education in the field of law, its role and its objectives in the system of providing free legal aid in Ukraine. This article characterizes the main legal education requirements for the subjects of management of the system of providing free legal aid. We have analyzed legal acts that regulate certain issues of management of the system of providing free legal aid, such as the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”, the Provision on Free Secondary Legal Aid Centres, the Provision on Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, and the Model Regulation on the Legal Aid Office, which made it possible to identify such subjects of legal education in the system of management of free legal aid, such as the regional and local Legal Aid Centres, the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, and the Legal Aid Office. The article emphasizes that legal clinics, which are structural divisions of higher educational institutions, are also involved in legal education activity. We highlight that the subjects of management in the free legal aid system carry out legal education at all levels of managerial influence. The article emphasizes that the role of forms of cooperation such as the conclusion of memorandums and agreements between the subjects of management of the system of providing free legal aid and other institutions and organizations in the system of providing free legal aid has been increasing recently. In addition, we paid special attention to the importance of the functioning of legal clubs “PRAVOKATOR”, which play an important role in the professional training and development of the staff of the free legal aid system, as well as the functioning of the Distance Learning Platform on the basis of such clubs.Furthermore, the article describes the features of the functioning of the information platform for legal consultations “WikiLegalAid”, which was created to improve the quality, completeness and efficiency of legal consultations by employees of regional and local centres as well as the exchange of experience.We have also analyzed its role in the legal education activity of the subjects of management of the system of free legal aid.

The Interaction between the Legal Aid System and Legal Clinic Education in Chinese Universities based on the Perspective of Legal Knowledge Supply

The legal aid system in Chinese universities is an important supplement to the legal aid system in China, and another important layer of significance of legal aid in universities is that it is an important position for practical legal education, as opposed to the legal clinic courses introduced by foreign countries. The legal aid system in Chinese colleges and universities has limitations in its functioning due to its positioning, and the legal clinic course is not suitable for the existing curriculum system. Under the framework of legal practice education, the legal aid system in colleges and universities and legal clinic education are homologous and isomorphic, which makes it possible for the two to be closely integrated in the knowledge supply level of legal practice education. How the university legal aid system and legal clinic education should promote each other requires, on the one hand, the expansion of the scope of university legal aid and, on the other hand, the development of diversified funding channels.

Getting things done via learning systems: feedback loops for a learning legal aid system.

Getting things done via learning systems: feedback loops for a learning legal aid system.

Foreign experience in managing the system of providing free legal aid

The scientific article describes the positive for­eign experience in managing the free legal aid system in such countries as the Republic of Po­land, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Bulgaria for further application and implementation of its elements in reforming the system of free legal aid manage­ment in Ukraine.
 Furthermore, this article analyzes the regulato­ry and legal framework for managing the provision of free legal aid in the abovementioned countries, including the Free Legal Aid and Education Act in the Republic of Poland, the Law on State Guaran­teed Legal Assistance in the Republic of Lithuania, State Legal Aid Act in the Republic of Estonia, and the Legal Assistance Act in the Republic of Bulgar­ia. The article highlights the features of providing free legal assistance in abovementioned countries. Besides, we have listed the main tasks of the sub­jects of management of the free legal aid system, the features of their powers, the purpose of their activities, the features of the internal structure of work, as well as the interaction of management bodies with each other. The article characterizes the main differences in the legislative regulation of the management of the sphere of providing free legal aid in the abovementioned countries. At the same time, the article emphasizes that in most of the countries studied there is a special governing body for the provision of free legal aid, but in the Republic of Estonia, such a body is not created. In Ukraine, such a body is the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, which is an independent subject of management. Moreover, given the exis­tence of legislative regulation on the issue of filing a request for state legal assistance in international affairs in the State Legal Aid Act (the Republic of Estonia), the article proposes to further provide such an opportunity for persons in need of such assistance in Ukraine.
 In addition, the article emphasizes the need to develop a legislative framework for the establish­ment of the Unified Register of Free Legal Aid Pro­vision in Ukraine with its assignment to the man­agement of the Coordination Center for granting the right of assistance. The creation of the Unified Register of Free Legal Aid Provision will signifi­cantly facilitate the maintenance of documenta­tion, reporting, and analytics by the entities au­thorized to grant the right, and also reduce the time for clarifying organizational issues that arise when making a decision on the provision of free legal assistance.

Examination of Foreign Legal Aid Systems and Their Operating Mechanisms

The extraterritorial experience of legal aid mechanisms should also be examined in a dynamic and practical manner. It is impossible to understand the actual system of a country on the basis of its legislative texts or the jurisprudence of its courts. As Ehrman, a famous comparative law researcher, emphasized, “When comparing, it is possible to know what must be functionally compared rather than just words. No matter how serious it is, it cannot be based only on legal provisions. No matter how clear and explicit it is, we must observe its actual effects.” Therefore, it is necessary to use the “five pairs of relationships” that support China's legal aid operation mechanism as the basic analytical framework to examine the basic experience of representative extraterritorial countries' legal aid operation mechanisms, and present their normative structure and practice. In order to objectively analyze the advantages and ingrained habits of the extraterritorial legal aid system, and reconsider the interrelationships between the five entities of the government, legal aid agencies, aid lawyers, aid recipients, and case handling agencies.

An Empirical Research on Legal Aid System in India

The empirical study on legal aid in India aims to assess the competency and commitment of the legal aid counsels (LACs) and their impact on the quality of the legal aid system in India.The study found that there are several constraints under which the Legal Aid System (LAS) in India has to operate, despite the large sum of expenditure allocated by the Government of India and the state governments on legal aid services.

The main elements of bar self-government, as one of the types of regulation of the bar in Ukraine

The article is devoted to the consideration of the main elements of the self-government of the bar in the context of the regulation of the bar in Ukraine. Lawyer self-governance is an important mechanism that allows lawyers to independently solve issues of organization and regulation of their professional activities. Key elements of bar self-governance include bar self-governance bodies, bar councils, bar assemblies, bar disciplinary commissions, and the collegial decision-making process.Bar self-governing bodies are key structures responsible for the regulation and supervision of legal practice. Bar councils perform important functions, providing representation and protection of the interests of lawyers, as well as considering ethical issues and regulating disciplinary cases. Bar meetings are a forum for discussing important issues of the bar community and solving collegial problems.An important aspect of lawyer self-governance is the self-regulation of lawyer activity, which ensures compliance with professional ethical standards and ensures the quality of legal aid.Bar self-government is an important element of the regulation of the bar in Ukraine. The effective work of the self-governing bodies of the bar, such as councils, meetings and commissions, contributes to ensuring professional ethics, self-regulation and the quality of the bar’s activity. An important component of bar self-governance is the adoption of collegial decisions that reflect the opinion and interests of the bar community.However, there are certain challenges and aspects that require attention in the context of self-government of lawyers in Ukraine. For example, the problem may be the issue of financing the legal profession and attracting budget funds. The transfer of powers to administer the system of free legal aid to the self-government of the bar may affect its financial independence and violate the legal status of the bar as an independent self-governing institution.