Ask China: Get a look at China’s lawyer system

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“Does China have lawyers?” Zhou Yuansheng, a senior official at China’s Ministry of Justice said he was asked this question once by a foreign expert at an international conference. In fact, there are close to 330,000 lawyers in China.

Out of China’s 1.3 billion population, the figure might not look big. But the profession has only been around since 1979 – the system was first established in 1954 but canceled again in 1959 – and since then it has seen an average annual growth rate of 10 percent.

CGTN spoke to Zhou Yuansheng, director of the Department of Lawyers and Public Notary at the Ministry of Justice, to find out more about China’s current lawyer system.

Role of lawyers in China

The core role of a lawyer is to safeguard the legal rights of his or her clients and ensure the law is respected. “Lawyers are one of the major drives to strengthen the rule of law in China,” Zhou noted.

In addition to litigation practice, the range of legal activities that lawyers take part in is broad: “There are different types including full-time lawyers from private law firms, government lawyers, part-time lawyers, lawyers providing legal assistance and military lawyers.”

There used to be a stereotype in China that lawyers were a group of people who filed lawsuits every day. But Chinese lawyers have been making efforts to strengthen the rule of law outside courts too.

For instance, over 1,000 lawyers are deputies of local people’s congresses and more than 4,000 are political advisors of local Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Lawyers also perform social responsibilities in public affairs. Over 300,000 cases on average every year are taken by public defenders appointed by the state with many more providing legal advice to help underprivileged individuals in local communities.

Worth mentioning is also some defense attorneys’ efforts in correcting wrongful convictions, Zhou noted, something that is maybe less often reported on abroad. “Lawyers are playing their part in appeals and in the correction of cases in which people were unjustly charged,” said Zhou.

Over the past four years, Chinese courts have righted 34 major miscarriages of justice, according to a white paper issued by the Supreme People's Court in February. These efforts have garnered great attention in the media and the public.

Protecting rights of lawyers

Ensuring lawyers’ rights, such as the right to meet with defense counsel, the right of investigation and the right of evidence collection, has been one of the top priorities for the ministry.

Two mechanisms have been introduced to guarantee lawyers’ specific rights: a relief mechanism and an accountability mechanism. “No relief system, no rights,” Zhou Yuansheng said. Under the two mechanisms, lawyers will have a channel to file complaints and will be guaranteed to obtain a quick response from the authorities.

Going global

On February 23, China won an anti-dumping case launched by the US on tires used in trucks and passenger vehicles. Behind the win were efforts by lawyers to defend the interests of Chinese enterprises.

Handling international legal cases presents challenges and opportunities, noted Zhou.

Chinese lawyers have actively taken part in international cases concerning anti-dumping and anti-subsidy, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, intellectual poverty rights, and outbound investment.

But China’s legal system still has a long way to go.

“Well-trained professionals in this area are highly insufficient. The international competitiveness of domestic law firms has yet to be enhanced and more can be done in improving the quality of legal service so as to secure the interests of Chinese firms going global, ” Zhou said.

“We need to enhance our influence to make the voice of Chinese lawyers heard by the international community,” he added.

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