incompetent or they were only brought in after the trial proceedings had started which disadvantaged their clients. Lawyers on legal aid panels receive remuneration of 4,000 INR to 7,000 INR per case (EUR 49 to EUR 86). All eight legal aid lawyers interviewed for Project 39A’s report stated that this amount was grossly insufficient and that it ought to be increased. Legal aid lawyers are also not reimbursed for costs they incur over the course of the trial. Similar problems face legal aid lawyers in China. ICJR also raised concerns regarding the legal aid system in Indonesia. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, article 56(1) and (2), if the defendant is charged with a crime punishable with the death penalty she must be provided with legal assistance free of charge. However, ICJR found that even though such provisions exist they merely function as administrative rules and are not practical in ensuring legal aid is available for all. Remuneration for legal aid cases is considered low. The legal aid budget is provided by the state to legal aid organisations. The budget for the handling of each criminal case is a maximum of IDR 8 million (EUR 500). ICJR found evidence of indigent individuals sentenced to death being left without legal assistance. From research carried out in 2019, based on 306 court decisions (100 cases and 118 defendants) at the investigation stage, only 11 suspects were known to have been assisted by legal counsel, and nine received no assistance. For the remaining 98 defendants it is not known whether or not they had legal counsel. ICJR also found that there are no domestic regulations which regulate the quality of legal representation in legal aid cases. In China, the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, article 34, states that the police, procuratorate and courts shall notify the legal aid agency to provide a lawyer in cases where a criminal suspect or defendant faces the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty and they have not appointed anyone to defend them. Legal aid centres, under the local administrative level of the Ministry of Justice, are responsible for the provision of legal aid, either directly through lawyers working for the centre or, more commonly, through law firms contracted by the legal aid centres. However, Chinese lawyers and legal scholars report poor quality representation and inadequate levels of funding. The families of some defendants described their experience of legal aid lawyers who show little interest or motivation in the case. 18 Poor families in China told of borrowing money from relatives in order to pay for the services of a lawyer rather than rely on legal aid. A Legal Aid Law came into effect in China in January 2022. Article 25 introduces legal aid at the death penalty review stage and article 26 requires that lawyers appointed by legal aid institutions to provide legal aid in death penalty cases should have three or more years’ experience. 18 The Rights Practice. “Respect for Minimum Standards? Report on the Death Penalty in China”. October 2020. https://www.rights-practice.org/news/respect-for-minimum-standards-report-on-the-death-penalty-in-china 11