MOSCOW, November 22 - RAPSI. The Justice Ministry has published proposals obligating the ministry's regional departments to follow the development of the system of free legal aid for low income citizens, Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily reports.

The reports have been posted in the open domain for public appraisal.

The Justice Ministry will be coordinating the work for developing the system.

All Russian regions will have to provide a certain number of special attorneys who offer free legal aid to low income citizens. All information on pro bono attorneys will be published online.

The ministry's regional departments will start holding a register of free legal aid centers and a list of pro bono attorneys. The state will fund the lawyers' work.

Individuals whose official family incomes are below the poverty line, individuals with disabilities, orphans and their representatives, minors serving a prison sentence and other "privileged categories of citizens" will be entitled to free legal aid.

This year, a law on free legal aid came into effect, which allows the regional authorities to employ attorneys for the legal protection of individuals. Until recently, individuals accused of committing criminal offences could ask for a pro bono lawyer. But ordinary citizens had to solve their domestic legal problems at their own expense.

Now a new system will be developed which, in many respects, will be similar to the one used in criminal trials.

The adoption of the law on legal aid was initiated by the Justice Ministry, together with the Association of Russian Lawyers.