Fafa [2015] No. 16

Issued by the Supreme People's Court

Notice on the Provisions on Effectively Protecting Lawyers' Litigation Rights in Accordance with the Law

The higher people's courts of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Military Court of the People's Liberation Army, and the Production and Construction Corps Branch of the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region:

　　The Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Effectively Protecting Lawyers' Litigation Rights in Accordance with the Law are hereby issued for your conscientious implementation.

　　Supreme People's Court

　　29 December 2015

Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Effectively Protecting Lawyers' Litigation Rights According to Law

　　In order to thoroughly implement the strategy of comprehensively promoting the rule of law, give full play to the positive role of lawyers in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the parties and promoting judicial justice, and effectively protect the litigation rights of lawyers, according to the the People's Republic of China Criminal procedure Law, Civil procedure Law, Administrative procedure Law, lawyers Law and the provisions of the Supreme people's Court, the Supreme people's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Justice on protecting lawyers' right to practice:

　　The 1. protects lawyers' right to know in accordance with the law. The people's courts should continuously improve the construction of the "three platforms" for the disclosure of trial procedures, the disclosure of judgment documents, and the disclosure of enforcement information, so as to facilitate lawyers to obtain litigation information in a timely manner. Lawyers shall be informed in a timely manner of important matters such as litigation procedures, protection of litigation rights, mediation and reconciliation, judgment documents and related progress in accordance with the law.

The 2. guarantees the right of lawyers to read papers in accordance with the law. A lawyer's application for marking papers shall be arranged within a reasonable time. If the case file materials are consulted by other litigation subjects, the time for all parties to read the files shall be coordinated and arranged. Lawyers who consult, extract and copy relevant file materials or view audio and video recordings of court hearings in accordance with the law shall provide places and facilities. Conditional courts may provide online file access services.

　　The 3. guarantees the right of lawyers to appear in court in accordance with the law. When determining the date of the court session, the necessary time shall be reserved for the lawyer to prepare for the appearance of the court. If the date of the hearing is changed due to special circumstances, the lawyer shall be informed three days in advance. If a lawyer requests a change in the date of the hearing for justified reasons, the judge may grant it after consulting the other parties. If a lawyer brings an assistant to appear in court, permission shall be granted.

　　The 4. guarantees lawyers' right to debate and defend in accordance with the law. In the course of the trial, the judge shall reasonably allocate the time for all parties to the proceedings to ask questions, cross-examine, make statements, debate and defend, and fully listen to the opinions of lawyers. In addition to the lawyer's speech is too repetitive, irrelevant to the case or related issues have been agreed before the court, should not interrupt the lawyer's speech.

The 5. protects the right of lawyers to apply for the exclusion of illegal evidence in accordance with the law. If a lawyer applies for excluding illegal evidence and provides relevant clues or materials, and the judge has doubts about the legality of evidence collection after examination, he shall convene a pretrial meeting or conduct a court investigation. If, after examination, it is confirmed that there are circumstances in which evidence is collected by illegal methods as prescribed by law, the relevant evidence shall be excluded.

　　The 6. protects the right of lawyers to apply for access to evidence in accordance with the law. If a lawyer is unable to collect evidence on his own for objective reasons, he may apply in writing to the people's court in accordance with the law to obtain evidence. If a lawyer's application for obtaining evidence meets the statutory conditions, the judge shall allow it.

　　The 7. guarantees the personal safety of lawyers in accordance with the law. In the course of the trial of a case, if the contradictions between the parties intensify and may endanger the personal safety of lawyers, necessary measures shall be taken in a timely manner. The judge shall promptly stop such acts as beating, threatening, insulting or slandering lawyers in court and deal with them in accordance with the law.

　　The 8. shall, in accordance with the law, protect the right of lawyers to represent them in appeals. Where a lawyer represents a party in a case to appeal, it shall be handled seriously in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law. If you think that the original case has been handled correctly, you should support the lawyer to do a good job of interpretation and analysis of the law to the complainant.

　　The 9. provide convenience for lawyers to perform their duties according to law. It is necessary to further improve the functions of online filing, payment, inquiry, marking, application for preservation, submission of agency statements, court scheduling, and document delivery. Conditional courts shall provide rest places for lawyers participating in court hearings, equipped with tables, chairs, drinking water and other necessary facilities.

　　The 10. improve the relief mechanism to protect the litigation rights of lawyers. Special agencies should be designated to handle lawyers' complaints, make contact information public, and open complaint channels. Complaints should be investigated in a timely manner, handled in accordance with the law, and the results should be informed to lawyers in a timely manner. Promptly respond to the suggestions made by judicial administrative organs and lawyers associations on safeguarding lawyers' right to practice law.