民国时期律师公费制度初探

律师公费制度是保证律师制度正常运作、维护律师在社会上良好形象的重要制度.民国初期,作为律师主管部门的司法部制定了律师公费标准,各地律师协会在此基础上以制定会则的方式确定了律师公费的最高限额.虽然律师公费有部定标准,但各地公费标准并不相同.即使在同一时期的同一地区,不同律师之间也因声望、资格的不同,其收费也不同.地域与时局、律师的地位与声望、案件的性质与难易程度、当事人的经济条件以及案件的类型等都是影响律师公费标准高低的主要因素.尽管律师之间的公费差距很大,但这一制度仍保障了律师这一阶层中的多数处于社会阶层的中等地位.

Lawyers' Public Fee in Republic of China

Lawyers’ public fee was essential to keep the smooth running of the lawyer system and to maintain the good image of lawyers.In the Republic of China,the Justice Department,in charge of all affairs concerning lawyers,stipulated the criteria of lawyers’ public fee,and based on it,the local lawyers’ associations made their own top limit to the lawyers’ public fee by putting it into their own Association Agreement.However,the criteria differed from place to place,and furthermore,the public fees were diverse even at the same place and in the same period,because different lawyers possessed different reputations and qualifications.In fact,the lawyers’ public fees varied from many factors such as different regions and times,the lawyer’s status and reputation,the nature and complexity of a certain case,and the economic situation of the clients.Regardless of the gaps of the fee among different lawyers,the system of lawyers’ public fee ensured the middle-class status of the whole group of lawyers in the society.