2015年CRI New Regulation Aims to Safeguard Lawyers' Rights（在线收听）

The new judicial guidelines put out by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and three relevant ministries are calling on the courts across the country to make it easier for defense lawyers to do their jobs.

Chen Weidong with Renmin University says, among other things, the new guidelines should make it easier for defense attorneys in the courtroom.

"Defense lawyers are often overlooked in court here in China. Prosecutors are normally allowed to go on, uninterrupted by the judge. Defense lawyers are usually told not to speak for too long, and are often cut-off by the judges. This leaves them unable to fulfill their duties."

Chen Weidong says the new guidelines also give defense lawyers greater access to their clients.

"Under the new regulations, authorities in-charge of lockups need to let the suspect's defense attorneys access to their clients. Under the new provisions, defense lawyers can't be blocked from meeting with their clients while they're awaiting trial."

Meetings between defense lawyers and their clients can't be electronically monitored.

Investigators also have to be out of the room when those meeting take place.

A 48-hour limit has been set by the Supreme People's Court for investigators to allow a suspect access to a defense lawyer.

The new guidelines also provide defense lawyers better access to investigation files, requiring prosecutors to provide all relevant information within 3-days.

Defense lawyers will be able to photocopy, photograph or scan the files for their own use.

Wang Jinxi with the China University of Political Science and Law says all these steps are critical to making the judicial system fairer here in China.

"The new regulations ensure stricter enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Law and reflect the recognition of lawyers. Lawyers are an important part of the judicial system. We can never achieve the 'rule of law' without lawyers."

Under the new guidelines, trial judges are also being told to pay equal attention to the arguments of both the defense and the prosecutors.

Defense lawyers are also being given the ability to file appeals to higher-level courts.

Any perceived violations of the lawyers' legal rights can also be appealed.

Jian Shan with the All China Lawyers Association says they hope the new guidelines will give his organization a better opportunity to help their members.

"Our lawyer-assistance system hasn't really been working that well. But with these new guidelines, lawyers will be able to use us to fight instances where prosecutors or the courts have infringed on their legal rights. To ensure this new system works smoothly, we're proposing a mechanism be set up to link our organization with judicial departments."

The new guidelines also include provisions to ensure lawyers are also held accountable for any actions which violate the laws.

There are currently around 270-thousand lawyers currently active in China among some 20-thousand law firms.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.