Non-profit legal services, where does the enthusiasm of lawyers come from

Reporter investigates Guangdong's deepening of lawyers' public welfare legal services by relying on platforms

  ● In recent years, Guangdong judicial administrative agencies and lawyers associations have been focusing on building various public welfare legal service platforms for lawyers, establishing and improving corresponding mechanisms, guiding lawyers in all aspects to give full play to their professional advantages, actively carrying out public welfare legal services, and doing practical work for the masses

  ● Relying on various platforms, Guangdong lawyers go to villages and communities to provide inclusive legal services for the masses, come to conduct legal examinations for enterprises, provide professional opinions, care for disadvantaged groups, pass on the warmth of the rule of law, and perform social responsibilities with practical actions

  ● The vast village and community legal advisers have become “good advisers” for Guangdong’s grassroots governance, “caring people” for village residents, and “peacemakers” for neighbors

  □ reporter Deng Jun

  When he was in college, the profession Yang Yang didn't want to pursue was a lawyer, because in his mind at that time, "lawyers work for the rich."

Today, he is proud of his status as a lawyer, and he is happy to run around in the countryside to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the villagers.

  What changed Yang Yang's consciousness was the cause of public welfare legal services. Seven years ago, he started as a village legal counsel and became a well-known local "peacemaker"; four years ago, the first mediation named after a lawyer in Guangdong The studio "Shating Village Yang Yang Lawyer Mediation Studio" was established. "Look for Yang Yang if you have something to do" has become the mantra of many local people.

  "To provide public welfare legal services, to directly face the masses, serve the masses, help them solve legal problems, and get their approval is the embodiment of their own value." Yang Yang said that there are gains in his heart and lawyers can work hard.

  In Guangdong, there are more and more lawyers like Yang Yang who are enthusiastic about public welfare legal services.

  What's the reason?

  The relevant person in charge of the Guangdong Lawyers Association said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that in recent years, the Guangdong judicial administration and the lawyers’ association have been focusing on building various non-profit legal service platforms for lawyers, establishing and improving corresponding mechanisms to guide lawyers in all aspects. Professional advantages, actively carry out public welfare legal services, and do practical things for the masses.

  Relying on various platforms, Guangdong lawyers go deep into villages and communities to provide inclusive legal services for the masses, come to conduct legal examinations for enterprises, provide professional advice, care for disadvantaged groups, convey the warmth of the rule of law, and perform social responsibilities with practical actions. A sense of accomplishment deep inside.

  Since this year’s party history study and education and political and legal team education rectification began, the Guangdong Provincial Lawyers Industry Party Committee and the Provincial Lawyers Association have organized the “I Do Practical Things for the People, Tens of Thousands of People’s Livelihoods” practice activities, advocating that lawyers throughout the province serve the people. Handle 100,000 public welfare legal services.

At present, the province's lawyers have provided 58,000 cases of public welfare legal services and handled 44,000 cases of legal aid.

  Legal advisors all over the province

  Interpretation, Principles and Dispute

  On the afternoon of June 8, Shenzhen Min Li and three others came to the community workstation and sought the community legal adviser to mediate a case of injury caused by throwing objects from a height.

  Community legal counsel, Lawyer Xin Xianxia, ​​after inquiring in detail, learned that: on the afternoon of June 7, when Ms. Li was passing near Building 163 of a certain community in Baishilong, she was hit by a stone falling from the upper floor and injured her left leg.

After calling the police, the police verified that it was caused by two children playing on the top floor and causing the stones to fall.

  Subsequently, Xin Xianxia asked the parents of the two children to explain the hazards of high-altitude throwing objects and related laws and regulations, and asked them to strengthen the guardianship of the children to avoid similar incidents from happening again.

In the end, the two parties reached a settlement.

  "It's really bringing legal services to our people." Ms. Li exclaimed with a thumbs up.

  Currently, more than 8,100 lawyers in Guangdong are active in 26,000 villages and communities in the province, serving as village and community legal consultants.

Like Xin Xianxia and Yang Yang, they provide public welfare legal services for the people with their heart and affection.

  It is understood that the village and community legal counsel system originated in Huizhou, Guangdong.

Guangdong is also the first province in the country to achieve full coverage of "one village (community), one legal consultant".

The vast number of village and community legal consultants provide legal services for various aspects of grassroots governance such as village regulations and folk agreements, the reconstruction of the three olds, land circulation, and property disputes, effectively reducing the number of villagers who resolve conflicts through petitions and litigation.

  Yang Yang is a rural child in western Guangdong, and he knows that farmers urgently need legal services.

Since 2014, he has been the legal counsel of Hualong Community, Shating Village, Hualong Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou City.

From neighborhood disputes to family conflicts, from wage arrears to fights, things in the community are very cumbersome, but Yang Yang always listens patiently, finds out the focus of disputes, and resolves conflicts. He is a veritable "peacemaker" in the local area.

  Shenzhen lawyer Fei Yiyun also worked as a community legal consultant for 7 years. The local people thought of him and found him as soon as they had legal problems.

Not long ago, a property manager died while resting in the dormitory. The family of the deceased demanded a compensation of 1 million yuan from the unit. The unit believed that he was not responsible, and both parties were very excited.

Fei Yiyun, who rushed to the scene, first calmed the emotions of both parties, patiently and meticulously understood the ins and outs, and found the focal point for solving the problem-applying for work injury identification, and the problem was quickly resolved.

  During the interview, the reporter felt that the legal advisers of the vast villages and communities have turned into “good advisers” for Guangdong's grassroots governance, “caring people” for village residents, and “peacemakers” for neighbors.

  Since the beginning of this year, Guangdong, with village and community legal counsel lawyers as the main body, has carried out "10,000 legal propaganda" activities across the province, and more than 5,000 have been carried out so far.

  Give full play to professional advantages

  Help enterprises to stabilize work and production

  In early June this year, confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia were found in many places in Guangdong, and the epidemic situation is severe.

  The Guangdong Private Enterprise Lawyer Service Group and the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce responded quickly to the new crown epidemic lawyer volunteer service group, convening the service group members to sort out the laws and regulations in the field of labor law, contract performance, foreign legal relations, criminal and administrative management in the special anti-epidemic activities , Provide timely authoritative interpretation and practical guidance for enterprises and the public.

At the same time, the "Guangdong Business Legal Service Online Consulting Column" for small, medium and micro enterprises to answer legal questions was restarted.

  The private economy is an important part of the socialist market economy.

As early as March 2009, the country's first SME lawyer service team was born in Guangdong. It provided SMEs with prior counselling, monitoring during the event, and remedial work afterwards for the operation and management of SMEs, helping to effectively respond to the financial turmoil that swept the world that year.

  In recent years, Guangdong’s “enterprise warming actions” and “rule of law physical examinations” have been more frequent.

During the epidemic prevention and control period last year, the Guangdong Lawyers Association established a new crown epidemic prevention and control service team in the Guangdong lawyer industry composed of nearly 2,000 lawyers to give full play to professional advantages, provide legal advice to the party committee and government, actively promote epidemic prevention and control policies and regulations, and serve Private enterprises provide special legal services for epidemic prevention and control.

  Lawyer Huang Luqing, who has been practicing for 20 years, is mainly engaged in the prevention and control of corporate legal risks. He is a member of multiple lawyer service groups in Guangdong and has participated in public welfare legal services for a long time.

"I'm a party member, and I'll be there on call." This is her promise.

She said: "Participating in public welfare legal services can not only provide legal advice to the party committee and government, but also help some companies resolve disputes and crises, and gain the respect of all parties. Why not do it."

  At the beginning of last year, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, many small, medium and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households faced difficulties in resuming work and production.

The government called on state-owned enterprises to take the lead in reducing rents and rent-free for enterprises and merchants, and provide financial support to help them tide over the difficulties.

Over a hundred tenants of a building in Guangzhou applied to the Federation of Industry and Commerce to coordinate rent reduction or exemption during the epidemic prevention and control period.

Lawyer Huang Luqing and the service team communicated with the owner four times a month before and after, and finally got through the work, which led to a partial reduction of rent.

  In this year’s "I Do Practical Things for the People, Ten Thousand Millions Benefit People’s Livelihood" activities, Guangdong actively promoted the "One Benefiting Ten Enterprises" activity. The majority of lawyers conducted legal examinations, legal lectures, and answered common legal questions for enterprises. Provide assistance for enterprises to operate in accordance with laws and regulations, prevent and resolve legal risks, and help enterprises to stabilize work and production.

  On July 13, Guangdong’s "Thousands of Institutions and Thousands of Associations" mechanism was launched, and a new platform for lawyers to serve private enterprises was set up to accelerate the establishment of a legalized business environment.

 Provide quality legal services

  Protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people

  Some time ago, the elderly retired military members Gao Mobo and his wife rushed to the legal aid agency with a pennant printed with "Government by virtue, good governance and closeness to the people", and expressed their gratitude to Ma Huankai, the lawyer who handled the case.

  It turned out that because of a real estate dispute, Gao Moubo came to apply for legal aid after losing the first instance of the lawsuit.

After Ma Huankai accepted the assignment, the next day (Saturday) he came to his door to understand the case with Gao, collect and sort out evidence, write an appeal statement, and sort out his ideas for handling the case.

In the end, the second instance supported Gao's request.

  "Lawyer Ma's timely, professional, careful and patient work has safeguarded my legitimate rights and interests." Gao said excitedly.

  Speaking for the legal rights and interests of the people in need is one of the “main business” of Guangdong lawyers.

The majority of lawyers actively settled in 12348 public legal service platforms, legal aid agencies, women's federations, labor departments, etc., to timely understand the legal needs of the masses, and quickly provide high-quality and convenient legal services.

  The term "Lady in Law" comes from film and television dramas, but it is often misunderstood by Cantonese to be produced in the "local" because there is a volunteer service team of Lady in Law in Guangdong.

  This is a volunteer service team with more than 770 female lawyers. The members are arranged reasonably to ensure that they are on duty at the Municipal Women’s Federation 2 to 3 times a week.

They are actively engaged in social legal services and public welfare undertakings, providing assistance for common legal issues and disputes of women and children, such as domestic violence and the protection of minors, and effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of women and minors.

On average, more than 5,000 legal consulting services are provided each year.

  Once, when lawyer Wang Jing was on duty at the Women's Federation, she met Ms. Li for consultation.

Ms. Li cried and said that she and her husband ran a stall. The husband gave a lot of money to the "Little San" and committed domestic violence against herself.

Wang Jing asked Ms. Li to defend her rights on the spot: "This is not just a domestic matter. If domestic violence occurs again, you should report to the police. You can also apply for habeas corpus to the court. In terms of property, you can file a lawsuit to revoke the gift and take up legal weapons. Come to protect yourself.” In the end, with Wang Jing's help, Ms. Li defended her legal rights.

  Yang Manyu, a lawyer who specializes in labor law, encountered a case like this when he was on duty on the trade union platform: three young girls who had just joined the company went on a business trip together. Unfortunately, two girls died on the spot in a traffic accident.

Because the entry time is not long, the labor contract has not been signed, and the work injury insurance has not been purchased.

Yang Manyu lasted more than 6 years, collecting evidence, assisting in applying for work-related injury identification, participating in arbitration, and litigation activities, and finally won the legitimate rights and interests of the deceased and lightened the hope of life for the living.

  Nowadays, Yang Manyu has provided free legal consultations to employees through the trade union platform for more than 3,000 people, provided more than 500 legal aids, and provided more than 50 law-promoting lectures each year. He was named "Gold Medal Caring Person" for 3 consecutive years.

  Don't change your original intention and move forward

  Let the rule of law warm more people

  In the case of domestic violence, there are good lawyers from Guangdong Province; when labor disputes occur, there is the support of the labor union legal service lawyers; even as far away as the old and young borders and poor areas, Guangdong lawyers also actively participate in the "1+1" China Legal Aid Volunteer Action and " The “Lawyer Service Corps for Tibet” has delivered free legal services to the doorsteps of the masses.

  This year, the Huizhou lawyer Jiang Dibiao, who just signed up for the "1+1" Chinese Legal Aid Volunteer Action and went to Tian and other counties in Guangxi to provide legal aid to people in need, extended the public welfare action from his doorstep to thousands of miles away.

  Lawyer Zheng Suijun has been engaged in "1+1" legal aid work since July 2010. He has been involved in legal aid in Wuzhishan in Hainan, Nagqu Plateau in Tibet, Pamirs in southern Xinjiang, and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This year is his 11th time to participate in the "1+1" legal aid work. 1+1" China Legal Aid Volunteer Action.

  Over the past 10 years, Guangdong has dispatched 111 volunteers of “1+1” lawyers with 206 person-times. They sowed the seeds of law to where the motherland needed them, interpreted the core values ​​of lawyers with practical actions, and made contributions to the construction of the rule of law.

  "Giving a rose has a lingering fragrance in your hand. Through public welfare legal services, you have helped others and achieved yourself." Wang Jing, a lawyer who has been enthusiastic about public welfare legal services, said deeply.

  Where does the enthusiasm of lawyers come from?

As the interview progressed, the reporter's answer became clearer.

  As the deputy director of the Public Welfare and Public Legal Service Committee of the Guangzhou Lawyers Association, Yang Yang always pays attention to the enthusiasm of lawyers to participate in public legal services when conducting research on the front line.

He suggested that according to the projects and types of public welfare legal services, corresponding requirements and conditions can be put forward for law firms and lawyers participating in public welfare legal services, strict entry barriers, and the quality of public welfare legal services can be improved.

  “Although lawyers cannot charge attorney fees to clients in the process of providing public welfare legal services, public welfare legal service organizations can provide lawyers with certain financial subsidies.” Yang Yang said for example, lawyers on duty at the Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate not only Corresponding subsidies, you can also enjoy the same parking, lunch break, lunch and other services as the procuratorate staff. These measures have made lawyers feel respected and well received.

  At the same time, we must give full play to the leading and exemplary role of party member lawyers in public welfare legal services.

Lawyers' associations and judicial administrative departments can conduct extensive publicity on the deeds and projects of lawyers participating in public welfare legal services.

  "I don't change my original aspiration, and I will move forward. I will continue to do my best in the public welfare legal service business within the scope of my ability. I am not fighting alone." Yang Yang said, this is also the common aspiration of the majority of lawyers.

  Cartography/Gao Yue