THE Ministry of Justice has issued a new national standard for legal aid for criminal matters in a bid to improve the quality of such services.

Legal aid in criminal matters refers to a set of safeguard mechanisms under which eligible people will be provided with free legal consultation, legal assistance, criminal defense and representative services.

Under the new standard, legal aid lawyers are required to promptly meet the recipients at least once during every stage of the criminal litigation procedure, attend the trial and submit their defense opinion in written form.

(Xinhua)