財團法人法律扶助基金會

The Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) is a nonprofit organization established with funding from the Judicial Yuan. It primarily provides legal assistance to economically disadvantaged individuals, aiming to protect their constitutional rights—including the right to litigate and the right to equality—and to help resolve legal challenges faced by economically disadvantaged social groups.

Cases must first be reviewed by the branch office, which will examine your financial status and the details of your case. The Review Committee will determine whether you qualify for legal assistance.

The LAF can assist you with representation in court proceedings, mediation, drafting legal documents and lawyer’s fee with your court case.

If you are legally living in Taiwan, you may apply for legal aid if: 

• Your have reasonable legal complaint
• You belong to a low or mid-to-low-income household, or your income or the value of your property is below a certain threshold. For details, please see : Financial Eligibility Criteria for Granting Legal Aid.

*Compulsory defense cases do not require financial assessment.
*Identified victims of human trafficking and foreigners living in shelters pending identification as victims of human trafficking may also apply.

Applying for legal aid is free.  The application will be initially reviewed by the Examining Commissioner who interviews the applicant regarding financial circumstances and relevant facts of the application (means test and merits test).  This will be followed by the Examining Committees, who will decide whether to grant legal aid; the types of legal aid services to be provided (litigation representation, drafting of documents, representation in mediation or settlement), the fees for legal aid service providers. The LAF will inform you of the results by telephone, followed by a written notice.

How to apply

All of LAF services are by appointment. If you are not fluent in Chinese, please make an appointment in advance to arrange for an interpreter.

Please call the LAF hotline at 412-8518 and press 1 for English service.

No fee will be charged for legal aid applications. If anyone offers to help you or apply on your behalf for a fee, please inform the LAF immediately.  However, you may have to pay expenses after legal aid is granted. Please see：Expenses may have to pay

The LAF has not authorized any agency to assist legal aid applications. Please be aware of the tactics used by certain agencies to entice clients, as they may sometimes charge high service fees.