中国需要什么样的刑事法律援助制度

What Kind of Criminal Legal Aid System does China Need

现代刑事诉讼制度设计都隐含着辩护律师对刑事诉讼程序普遍参与的前提。在犯罪嫌疑人、被告人无力聘请辩护律师时,刑事法律援助就是其获得律师帮助的重要途径。2012年修正后的中国刑事诉讼法扩大了刑事法律援助的范围,并将刑事法律援助的诉讼阶段从一审程序向前延伸至了侦查程序,但距离普遍、及时的刑事法律援助目标还是存在一定的差距。为此,应当进一步扩大刑事法律援助对象的范围,并建立有效的保障体制。在律师资源区域性分布不均的现状之下,通过建立中国式的公设辩护人制度,在一定区域之内进行律师资源的合理配置,或者将基层法律服务工作者纳入刑事法律援助服务队伍之中,可以较好地满足中国刑事法律援助实践的需要。

Modem criminal procedure has a presupposition that all cases involve defense lawyers. When a suspect or defendant is not able to afford a lawyer, the legal aid system becomes an important channel to pro- vide professional assistance. Although the 2012 amendment to China＇s Criminal Procedure Law expanded the scope of criminal legal aid and extended criminal legal aid from first instance trial stage to pretrial investigation stage, a universal and prompt legal aid system is still in distance, so the scope of criminal legal aid should be expanded and an effective guaranteeing system should be established. Given the unbalance situation of lawyer resource regional distribution, establishing a China style public defender system, rational allocating lawyer resource in specific area, or including the basic level legal service persons to the criminal legal aid subject will meet the need of China＇s criminal legal aid practice.