China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Tuesday issued a new set of regulations to better safeguard lawyers' rights in court, including protection of their personal safety.
The regulations state that judges should immediately stop court proceedings that may put a lawyer in danger, including insults, threats or assaults against lawyers. It also forbids local courts from interrupting a lawyer in court unless the statement is repetitive or irrelevant to the case.
China called for the protection of lawyers' rights in a regulation jointly prepared by the SPC, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Justice in September 2015, in response to various rights violations, including obstruction of justice and client visits.
Huo Zhijian, a lawyer from the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times the release of the two regulations within six months shows the central government's determination to protect the rights of lawyers.
The new regulations aim to solve problems in court like insufficient debate, exclusion of illegally obtained evidence, difficulties in acquiring evidence and threats to personal safety, Guo Feng, an SPC deputy director, was quoted as saying by China National Radio.
Shanghai-based lawyer Guo Chengqi told the Global Times that she was once thrown out of a court in Dandong, Shandong Province when she raised an objection against a court clerk, whom she claimed was not faithfully recording the case.
