Guideline offers lawyers more convenience at jails

Lawyers will have greater convenience and protection while meeting their clients in prisons, according to a new guideline from the Ministry of Justice that took effect on Monday.

The guideline allows lawyers to visit clients alone, discarding the old rule that meetings with prisoners should include two lawyers.

In addition, meetings with inmates who face new allegations, or consultations ahead of case hearings, may not be monitored. Police officers are not allowed under the guideline, which has 14 clauses.

“It’s great progress for the rule of law. It streamlines the meeting procedures in prisons and give us more convenience and protection in providing legal services for inmates,” said Ruan Chuansheng, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai.

“When I visited my jailed clients in the past, I had to find another colleague to accompany me, and police officers often appeared in the meeting room, watching and monitoring us,” he said. “It was inconvenient for me and constituted interference in a private meeting.”

Most of time, a defense lawyer’s work ends when his or her client is convicted and sent to prison. “But people charged with new crimes or who are named in new civil cases — such as a divorce — need us again,” he said.

Zhao Li, a Beijing criminal lawyer, said the new guideline is a “good connection” with the Criminal Procedure Law, in which the protection of suspects is upheld.

He applauded the new version “because it extends the range of people who can submit an application for a meeting,” he said. “Under the old guideline, which took effect in 2004, only the inmate could apply for a meeting. But now an inmate’s relatives or guardians are also included.”

Still, he suggested, the new guideline should be more detailed. “For example, how long a meeting is and what procedures we should abide by during the meeting are not clear,” he said.

Both lawyers said they look forward to seeing whether the new version can play a constructive role in practice. “Effective implementation is the best protection for both lawyers and inmates,” Ruan said.

In April, the ministry held a news conference to highlight respect for lawyers. It said better protection for them could help avoid wrongful convictions.