Submission to the report on the protection of lawyers. The Rights Practice. December 2021 China’s Law on Lawyers (2017) protects the role of lawyers in Articles 33 to 37.3 The law stipulates that no organisation or individual may infringe the lawful rights and interests of lawyers, including the right to meet, read files and investigate and collect evidence. However, the lawyers’ right to meet criminal suspects and defendants in custody and under residential surveillance is waived if the case is considered to be related to national security. Article 37 of the law also states that the representation and defence opinions issued by lawyers in court are not subject to “legal investigation”. However, exceptions are made for “statements that endanger national security, maliciously slander others, and seriously disrupt court order.”4 Offences related to endangering national security are broadly defined and are often used to target and punish lawyers. See answer to Question 3 below for more detail. In August 2021, a new Legal Aid Law was promulgated and will come into force on 1 January 2022.5 This new law will update the current system which was set up in 1996. Under this new Legal Aid Law, a suspect in a criminal case who does not have a defender is automatically entitled to a legal aid lawyer if the accused meets a number of criteria such as being a child, lacking mental capacity or if they might be sentenced to life imprisonment or death. The new law, Article 27, also stipulates that when appointing legal aid lawyers, criminal justice authorities must not “restrict or harm” a criminal suspect or defendant to appoint a defender of their choice.6 This was added in response to concerns over the Chinese government appointing legal aid lawyers against the criminal defendants’ will.7 This could be viewed as a step forward in enabling lawyers to exercise their professional activities in favour of their clients in a free and independent manner. However, it is unclear how this will be implemented in practice, especially as lawyers face restrictions, obstacles and harassment when carrying out their work. See answer to Question 3 below for more detail. 2. What entities and/or mechanisms are in place to prevent and/or punish interferences with the free and independent exercise of the legal profession? Please briefly describe them and specify whether they are independent bodies or if they belong to the administrative structure of the State. There are no independent entities or mechanisms in place to prevent and/or punish interferences with the free and independent exercise of the Chinese legal profession. Chinese courts are not independent. Law on Lawyers of the People’s Republic of China, 2017. Official Chinese: http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc//xinwen/2017-09/12/content_2028697.htm Unofficial English translation, China Justice Monitor, full access restricted due to paywall: https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/are-there-lawyers-in-china 4 Ibid 5 Legal Aid Law of the People’s Republic of China, 20 August 2021. Official Chinese: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/202108/20/content_5632494.htm; NPC Observer, “NPCSC Codifies Three-Child Policy, Expands Legal Aid & Updates Military Service Law and Physicians Law”, 24 August 2021. https://npcobserver.com/2021/08/24/npcsc-codifies-threechild-policy-expands-legal-aid-updates-military-service-law-and-physicians-law/ 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 3 3