Yunnan makes strides in improving public legal services

Southwest China's Yunnan province is committed to high-quality and convenient public legal services in recent years. So far, it has established 15,923 public legal service centers and stations which have handled over 100,000 cases for people across the province.

To enhance the accessibility of legal services, Yunnan's judicial department has launched a smart mobile platform that enables people to receive legal services within minutes on their phones. 

To improve equality in service provision, the province has been actively propelling the construction of its physical, hotline and online service platforms. It has also adopted a "3+X" service model which is underpinned by legal aid, people's mediation and legal counseling, and is flexible in providing additional services like notarization and forensic services based on local needs. 

Since its launch one and half years ago, the province's legal counseling hotline, 12348, has received about 285,000 phone calls from the public. Operating in a 7/24 manner, the hotline also provides Tibetan-language services for the benefit of ethnic minorities . 

Composed of 25 sections, the province's public legal service website and its WeChat version has so far attracted over 700,000 users, received up to 6.27 million visits, and handled 350,000 cases. 

Yunnan has also been earnestly implementing the duty counsel system, expanding the representation of defense attorneys in criminal cases, and lowering legal aid application requirements. Currently, about 20 million people in the province are eligible to apply for legal aid concerning 30 categories of matters.