Delegate upholds principle of justice for all

Providing legal aid to people dealing with disputes or lawsuits is not easy work, but Xu Hui has provided such help for almost 20 years.

"What I want is to help people in poverty," said the director of a legal center under the justice bureau of Tongcheng county, Hubei province.

As a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, she pays great attention to issues about how to improve the quality of legal aid and what other legal services can be provided to residents.

She said providing high-quality legal aid is not a job just for the justice authorities. "Instead, it needs more efforts from all walks of life," she said.

Xu suggested setting up a special system to evaluate whether the aid is qualified or effective.

At the same time, she called on universities, research centers and social organizations to join the legal aid effort, establishing institutions to educate attorneys, ensuring the legal services they provide are more professional.

"My father is a Party member. He always told me that the biggest value for a person was to try his or her best to help others and contribute to society," she said, adding that this means she never feels tired when taking part in mediation and solving people's disputes.

"Justice should be upheld in front of everyone. Vulnerable or poor residents also have the right to legal aid," she said.

Last year, more than 60 migrant workers in the county sought help from Xu after they failed to receive their salaries from employers.

Thanks to legal aid, they eventually shared more than 1 million yuan ($151,000).

"No matter how big a company is, the law will stand on the side of justice," she said.

In the past three years, she has tackled more than 200 similar disputes and held free activities to promote legal knowledge among ordinary people more than 90 times.

Thanks to her hard work, the county's residents prefer to come to her when they are involved in disputes, as she is never afraid of difficulties and always deals with their legal problems as if she were handling her own.

Having worked in the legal sector for two decades, Xu said she is glad to witness the improvements in the rule of law in the country, especially people's increasing legal awareness.

"More people apply for legal aid when they are in trouble, but efforts to protect poverty stricken litigants still need to be improved," she added.