Recently, the judicial bureau of Puan County, Guizhou Province issued a notice to lawyers in the local legal community, requiring them to report to the judicial bureau when handling cases related to cracking down on crime and eliminating evil. In addition, if lawyers propose defense arguments that involve changing the classification of charges, they must first obtain approval from the county judicial bureau. The requirement for lawyers to report and seek permission from the judicial administrative department before presenting their defense arguments in court has raised questions and concerns from the public.
On September 17th, a lawyer from Beijing posted a screenshot of a group chat on Weibo, questioning why lawyers need approval from the judicial bureau to present defense arguments that involve changing the classification of charges. The screenshot revealed that members of the group under the name “Puan Judicial Bureau” first forwarded the notice for collecting clues related to cracking down on crime and eliminating evil in Guizhou, and then issued the notification to various law firms.
The notification stated that when law firms handle cases related to the aforementioned notice, they must promptly report to the public legal service department of the county judicial bureau. It specifically mentioned that if the defense argument involves changing the classification of charges, it must receive research and approval from the county judicial bureau before being presented. The notification also required law firms to reply upon receiving it.
Initially, reporting to the judicial bureau was just to inform them about the cases being handled by law firms. However, this notification goes further by requiring lawyers to obtain approval from the judicial bureau before presenting defense arguments that involve changing the classification of charges. Even if a lawyer believes that the charges brought forth by the prosecution do not align with the evidence, they are not allowed to directly present their arguments in court based on their own judgment.
Mr. Zhang, a human rights lawyer from Hubei, believes that the notification issued by the Puan County judicial bureau seriously violates the Criminal Procedure Law, infringing on the defendant’s right to defense and the independent practice rights of lawyers. He expressed to reporters that lawyers should present materials and opinions that assert the innocence of the suspect or defendant, or seek to reduce or exempt their criminal liability based on facts and law, in order to safeguard the legitimate rights of the parties involved.
He stated, “Lawyers should independently exercise their right to defense in accordance with the law, free from any illegal interference by administrative authorities. Establishing a pre-approval process for expressing defense arguments essentially places the review of judicial administrative agencies above the law, completely stripping lawyers of their independent defense rights.”
The Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that defense counsels should present materials and opinions asserting innocence, mitigating guilt, or exempting criminal liability based on facts and law. The amended Lawyer Law, which came into effect on September 1st this year, also mandates that lawyers acting as defense counsels should present the aforementioned opinions based on facts and law. However, the notification from the Puan County judicial bureau requires lawyers to wait for the bureau’s “research approval” before presenting one of these types of opinions.
Mr. Liu, a human rights lawyer from Beijing, pointed out that the more cracking down on crime and eliminating evil is emphasized as a task by authorities in mainland China, the more crucial it becomes for lawyers to question evidence and charges. If administrative authorities screen out unfavorable defense arguments beforehand, court trials may only reflect one side – that of the prosecution, making the defense by lawyers appear like mere theatrics. He stated, “The special actions such as ‘cracking down on crime and eliminating evil’ initiated by the Communist Party have clear political implications in the eyes of local officials. This approach weakens the independence of defense and tramples on the judicial credibility established since the reform and opening-up period, reflecting the authorities’ drift towards abandoning judicial fairness, which can lead to more judicial errors and injustices.”
Similar regulations have been seen in Guizhou before. According to a report by The Paper in 2015, the Zunyi City judicial bureau introduced regulations at the end of 2014, including cases where lawyers proposed innocence or changing the classification of charges in the reporting scope. After lawyers such as Li Guisheng filed for information disclosure, the bureau responded by stating that due to the controversy surrounding the regulations, they decided to retract them.
The regulation in Zunyi required lawyers to “report” first, whereas the recent notification from Puan County demands lawyers to obtain “research approval” from the judicial bureau before presenting defense arguments involving changing the classification of charges.