法律援助是现代国家普遍采用的一项司法救济制度,其要旨是通过对贫困者提供法律帮助,维护其合法权益,实现社会公平正义。我国法律援助制度经过十多年的发展,取得了瞩目的成就,但在立法层面、实践层面和观念层面等方面仍存在很多问题,制约着法律援助制度的发展,亟需加以完善。 Legal aid is a commonly used judicial relief system in modern countries. The essence of legal aid is to provide legal assistance to the poor, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, and achieve social fairness and justice. After more than a decade of development, China’s legal aid system has made remarkable achievements. However, there are still many problems in terms of legislation, practice and ideology, restricting the development of the legal aid system and it is in urgent need of improvement.