Chinese Defense Lawyers Life Becomes Easier Amendments to Law on Lawyers
China’s top legislature is planning to adopt a draft amendment to the Law on Lawyers which will make it easier for defense lawyers to meet criminal suspects and obtain evidence.
Chinese lawyers have long complained of difficulties in meeting criminal suspects and having access to files and evidence when defending criminal cases.
In the proposed amendment, the provision allowing a defense lawyer to meet a criminal suspect without approval from a judicial department is the most noteworthy. Additionally, defense attorneys and criminal suspects will not be monitored when they have a conversation. Defense lawyers are entitled to look up all files and materials relating to the case and have the right to collect evidence.
The proposed change to defense lawyers rights under the amendment is in conflict with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, which explicitly requires that a defense lawyer must have approval from the judicial department before meeting a criminal suspect.
The criminal Procedural Law is said to be under revision and the revised version is expected to conform with the draft amendment to the Law on Lawyers.
The proposed amendment suggests that the presumption of innocence is becoming a dominant principle in dealing with criminal cases, and the protection of the rights of criminal suspects accepted as a matter of procedural justice.
