台灣的法律扶助,是指對於需要專業性法律幫助而又無力負擔訴訟費用及律師報酬之人民,予以制度性、全面性的援助,以維護弱勢者的訴訟權及平等權。此種意涵,與聯合國特別報告員在極度貧窮與人權的報告中所述實若相符合。所以,使人民有平等使用及接近司法之機會,不啻為法治國家發展之必然,更為世界之潮流。訴訟中之任何一方倘因弱勢之經濟條件 Taiwan’s legal assistance refers to providing institutional and comprehensive assistance to people who need professional legal assistance and can not afford legal costs and remuneration to safeguard the lawsuit and equal rights of the underprivileged. This implication coincides with what the UN Special Rapporteur described in his report on extreme poverty and human rights. Therefore, to make people have equal access to justice and access to justice is an inevitable and more global trend for the development of a country ruled by law. Any one of the parties to the lawsuit, if disadvantaged by the economic conditions