Hainan makes overall improvement of public legal service system

Centering on the construction of its free trade port, Hainan, China's southernmost province, has been taking multiple measures to advance the building of a comprehensive high-quality public legal service system. 

In recent years, the province has built a well-functioning offline public legal service platform that covers all the five administrative levels, a convenient and efficient legal service website and the 12348 hotline which provides the public with 24/7 legal consulting, according to a recent meeting convened by the province's judicial department in the city of Danzhou. 

These projects have greatly advanced the province's effort to eradicate absolute poverty, build a law-based government, and improve the business environment, said the meeting. 

Between April 2018 and November 2020, Hainan handled a total of 57,500 legal aid cases, helping people recover 680 million yuan ($106 million) in financial losses. Other statistics include mediation of 56,000 disputes and handling of 260,000 notarial cases, 40,000 judicial authentication cases and 5,600 arbitration cases. 

In addition, legal counsels for communities and villages across the province provided consultations to about 50,000 people and settled 4,000 disputes in that period. 

During that same period the province's official public legal service website received 155,000 visits and responded to 7,300 queries, while its 12348 hotline took 280,000 calls. 

The province's judicial administrative organs at various levels were urged at the meeting to step up efforts to build a unified public legal service system which is replicable in other parts of the country. 

The meeting also served as an inaugural ceremony of Danzhou's public legal service center and diversified dispute resolution center.