Focus

Lawyers plagued with red tape

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-25 09:20

The capital's criminal defense lawyers are pleading for change after complaining that three major difficulties are holding back their work, according to a senior lawyer from the National Lawyer Association. Li Guifang, vice-head of the criminal defense committee with the association, told METRO there are more than 20,000 qualified lawyers in Beijing practicing at 1,300 law firms. But he said only 4,000 are taking part in criminal defense work.Li said the volume of criminal defense work has fallen by 30 percent recently.

He said the three major difficulties facing criminal lawyers are: Meeting with detained suspects during the police investigation period; fully going through case files before court hearings begin; and getting witnesses to testify in court.

The biggest problem, he said, is gaining access to suspects.

According to 1997's Law of the People's Republic of China on Lawyers, after a suspect is detained, his defense lawyer has the right to apply for a meeting with him.

But, he said, it is almost impossible, in reality, for a lawyer to meet with a suspect within 48 hours of detention. He said the initial hours are considered to be a crucial time in getting to grips with a case and vital for warning a suspect of his legal rights and responsibilities.

He said the situation in China lags far behind the standard in Western countries, where suspects have a right to refuse to answer questions during their detention.

In China, suspects have to truthfully answer questions put to them by the police and the court, unless those questions are not relevant to the case.

Li complained that, in some cases, lawyers have not been able to meet their clients throughout the entire police investigation period. He said police guards are not obliged to explain in detail why they refuse lawyers access to suspects and can simply say "it's not convenient".

When that happens, he said it greatly harms the suspects' legitimate defense rights, and even worse, results in the possible torture and abuse of suspects during detention, Li said.

He cited the case of Li Xin, the 46-year-old former vice-mayor of Jining city, Shandong province.Li said Li Xin was convicted, in July 2005, of taking bribes and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Li said he was supposed to represent Li Xin but could not gain access to him throughout his entire detention period.

"Although I asked for a meeting with him, the judiciary departments refused my request without any explanation," Li said.

"So, I couldn't grasp the case situation in a timely manner, find out about key witnesses and help make an analysis of the case," Li said. "The suspect didn't make any legal demands on his lawyer until the court hearing."

After the first sentence was handed down by a Intermediate Court, Li appealed to the local Higher Court, which upheld the previous judgment.

Li said part of the reason why access to suspects is denied may be that police guards worry that the meeting will disrupt their constant questioning of suspects. Or, he said, they may worry that the lawyer will bring messages to the suspect from acquaintances. He said another reason may be that the police fear the lawyer will coach the suspect on illegal ways to avoid being found guilty.

"Taking such illegal action puts a criminal lawyer at great risk," Li said. "There is little chance that it will mitigate the charges or lessen the sentence."

He pointed out that lawyers suspected of illegally helping a suspect will be charged with the crime of perjury and face a sentence of three to seven years, so few would do such a thing.

Li complained that the courts are usually reluctant to accept lawyers' efforts to challenge prosecutors' charges and get reduced sentences.