FROM FORMAL COVERAGE TO SUBSTANTIVE ACCESSIBILITY: INSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS FOR EQUALIZING BASIC PUBLIC LEGAL SERVICES AT THE COUNTY LEVEL
Keywords:
County governance, Basic public legal services, Service equalization, Substantive accessibility, Institutional safeguardsAbstract
As physical public legal service platforms and hotline and online channels have gradually been established at the county, township, village, and community levels, the principal task of equalizing county-level basic public legal services has shifted from filling gaps in institutional coverage to improving convenience, professionalism, and effectiveness. Equalization does not mean mechanically distributing institutions, personnel, and funding equally, nor does it require identical outcomes in different cases. Rather, it requires people in different areas and social groups to obtain legal services that meet basic quality standards, produce effective handling, and remain accessible at an affordable cost. At present, county-level public legal services still face several problems: resource allocation prioritizes platform coverage; professional provision is unstable; standardized provision is misaligned with differentiated needs; and performance assessment values quantity over effect. Countywide coordination should therefore underpin lists of services and responsibilities, needs-weighted fiscal funding, and mechanisms for government-purchased services. Quality evaluation should balance process and outcomes, while stronger safeguards should be provided for remote areas and special groups, thereby moving basic public legal services from formal coverage to substantive accessibility.References
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