Input for SG report on question of the death penalty. March 2022. the Ministry of Justice published “Provisions on Providing Defendants with Legal Aid in Review of Death Penalty Cases” which states that lawyers must have at least three years’ experience to take a death penalty case.13 However, it is unclear how these new legal provisions will be implemented in practice. Government-appointed legal aid lawyers work ‘within the system’ and in line with Chinese Communist Party priorities, rather than the defendant. Legal aid is poorly funded and there is a lack of training for lawyers on mental illness. There has been some growing awareness of the importance of forensic evidence and mental health assessments in recent years, and some lawyers have been making efforts to work more closely with mental health experts. 14 But lawyers continue to face many obstacles defending their clients sentenced to death, such as lack of access to case files, restrictions on client meetings and harassment and punishment by the authorities if they are deemed too politically sensitive. For example, on 26 November 2021, lawyer Liang Xiaojun (梁小军), a prominent lawyer with twenty years’ experience taking human rights, and death penalty cases, had his lawyer’s license revoked. Beijing Judicial Department stated that this was a punishment due to Liang’s comments on domestic and foreign social media and for publicly supporting Falungong practitioners.15 Supreme People’s Court and Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China. “Provisions on Providing Defendants with Legal Aid During Review of Death Penalty Cases (Provisional)”. 31 December 2021. Unofficial English translation by China Law Translate: https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/dp-reviewrepresentation/ 14 Qiao, Cong Rui. ‘Emerging Role of Expert Opinions in Chinese Criminal Justice.’ Forensic Res Criminal Int J. 2017;4(6):192- 193. DOI: 10.15406/frcij.2017.04.0013 15 The Rights Practice. “Submission to the report on the protection of lawyers”. December 2021. https://www.rights-practice.org/news/submission-to-the-report-on-the-protection-of-lawyers 13 5