A senior official from the Chinese Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Wednesday defended the detention of lawyers from a Beijing law firm, saying it is "good for the general legal practice environment."
A group of lawyers from the Beijing-based Fengrui Law Firm are accused of disrupting public order, seeking profits and illegally hiring protesters to sway court decisions in the name of "defending justice and public interest," Xinhua reported.
He Yong, a deputy director from the Department of Directing Lawyers and Notarization at the MOJ, said that the lawyers who organize paid protests crossed the boundaries of legal practice.
Some of the law firm's activities hampered normal judicial work, and were divergent with professional conduct and spirit of the rule of law, He said.
He went on to say that most of the lawyers are professional and those detained do not represent the whole group.
The total number of practicing lawyers stood at 270,000 and domestic law firms at more than 22,000 by the end of 2014, MOJ said. "As the apex department of supervising lawyers, we stand firmly by the police in investigating and dealing with these lawyers in accordance with the law," he said, suggesting we should get rid of the "rotten apple."
The development of lawyers means the advancement of the rule of law, said He Yong, the MOJ official, while urging lawyers to fulfill their responsibilities legally. "The realization of the Chinese dream is not possible without the participation of Chinese lawyers."
The People's Daily also published four articles criticizing the lawyers' misconduct on Wednesday. Wang Jinxi, a law professor from the China University of Political Science and Law, said that lawyers should not become merchants making money through the legal practice and should study the law and win lawsuits in courts rather than organizing protests to create influence.
"The legal profession just cared about the numbers of lawyer for a long time and ignored the qualities," Wang said. Professional ethics of legal practitioners is of fundamental importance and people's faith in lawyers could be shattered if lawyers made a minor mistake, Wang noted.
