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INTERIM REGULATIONS ON LAWYERS

    Chapter IV   Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I  The Task and Rights of Lawyers

    Article 1  Lawyers are state legal workers whose task is to give legal
assistance to state organs, enterprises and institutions, public
organizations, people's communes and citizens in order to ensure the correct
implementation of the law and protect the interests of the state and
collectives as well as the lawful rights and interests of citizens.

    Article 2  The principal duties of lawyers shall be:

    (1) to accept the mandate of state organs, enterprises and institutions,
public organizations and people's communes to serve as their legal advisers;

    (2) to accept the mandate of a party to a civil action to serve as his
representative in litigation;

    (3) to accept the mandate of a defendant or the assignment of a people's
court to serve as his defender in a criminal case; to accept the mandate of a
private prosecutor or of the victim and his near relatives in a public
prosecution to serve as their representative in litigation;

    (4) to accept the mandate of a party in a nonlitigious matter to give legal
assistance or serve as its representative in mediation or arbitration;

    (5) to give consultative advice on legal questions and draft documents in
connection with litigation or other legal matters.

    Lawyers shall publicize the socialist legal system through all their
professional activities.

    Article 3  In performing their duties, lawyers shall serve the cause of
socialism and the interests of the people, act on the basis of facts and take
the law as the criterion.

    In the performance of their functions according to law, lawyers shall be
protected by the law of the state, subject to no interference by any
organization or individual.

    Article 4  When being retained by an organization as its legal adviser, a
lawyer shall have the responsibility to give advice on legal questions arising
from the client organization, draft and examine legal documents for it,
represent it in litigation, mediation or arbitration, and safeguard its lawful
rights and interests.

    Article 5  When acting as representatives in litigation and nonlitigious
matters, lawyers shall have the responsibility to safeguard the lawful rights
and interests of the client within the scope of the mandate.

    Within the scope of the mandate, the lawyer's procedural and legal acts
shall have the same effect as those of the client.

    Article 6  When acting as defenders in criminal cases, lawyers shall have
the responsibility to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of the
defendants on the basis of facts and the law. A lawyer may refuse to act as the
defender of a defendant if he believes that the defendant has not truthfully
stated the facts of the case to him.

    Article 7  In legal proceedings, lawyers shall have the right, to consult
the materials of the case and may make enquiries from organizations and persons
concerned in accordance with relevant regulations. When acting as defenders in
criminal cases, lawyers may meet and correspond with the defendants held in
custody.

    The organizations and persons concerned shall have the duty to render
assistance to the lawyers engaged in the activities mentioned in the preceding
paragraph.

    Lawyers shall have the responsibility to keep confidential state secrets
and matters of personal privacy which they come into contact with in their work.
Chapter II  The Qualifications of Lawyers

    Article 8  The undermentioned citizens who cherish the People's Republic of China, support the socialist system and have the right to vote and stand for
election shall be eligible as lawyers after passing an examination:

    (1) those who have graduated from law faculties of universities or colleges
and have been engaged for two or more years in judicial work, legal
instruction or jurisprudential studies;

    (2) those who have had professional legal training and have worked as
judges in people's court or as procurators in people's procuratorates;

    (3) those who have received college education, have completed three or more
years of economic, scientific and technological work, are proficient in their
professions and the relevant laws and decrees thereof, and have gone through
professional legal training and who are fit for the work of a lawyer; and

    (4) those who have attained the same level of knowledge of practical legal
work as is required of persons prescribed in Items (l) and (2) above and the
same level of learning as is given by college education and who are fit for the
work of a lawyer.

    Article 9  To be eligible as a lawyer, a person must be examined and
approved by the judicial department (bureau) of a province, autonomous region,
or municipality directly under the Central Government and issued a lawyer's
certificate, and a report shall be made to the Ministry of Justice of the
People's Republic of China for the record. Upon discovery of an improper
examination and approval, the Ministry of Justice shall instruct the relevant
judicial department (bureau) to conduct a reexamination.

    Article 10  Those who are eligible as lawyers but are unable to leave their
present positions to practise law may act as part-time lawyers. The current
organizations in which they are working shall support such arrangements.

    Personnel presently attached to the people's courts, people's
procuratorates and people's public security organs may not act as part-time
lawyers.

    Article 11  Those who have graduated from law faculties of universities or
colleges or have gone through professional legal training may act as apprentice
lawyers after examination and approval by the judicial departments (bureaus)
of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central
Government.

    The training period for apprentice lawyers shall be two years. Upon
completion of the training period, apprentice lawyers shall be given lawyers
credentials in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Article 9 of these
Regulations; the training period may be extended if an apprentice lawyer fails
to pass the examination.

    Article 12  Lawyers who are incompetent shall be disqualified as lawyers by
decision of the judicial departments (bureaus) of provinces, autonomous
regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government and with the
approval of the Ministry of Justice.
Chapter III  Business Organizations of Lawyers

    Article 13  Legal advisory offices shall be the business organizations from
which lawyers perform their duties.

    Legal advisory offices shall be public institutions under the
organizational leadership and professional supervision of the judicial
administrative organs of the state.

    Article 14  Legal advisory offices shall be established in counties, cities
and municipal districts. When necessary, specialized legal advisory offices
may be established with the approval of the Ministry of Justice.

    Legal advisory offices shall not be subordinate to one another.

    Article 15  The principal functions of a legal advisory office shall be to
direct lawyers in the development of their professional work, to organize their
political studies and professional studies in law and to sum up and exchange
their work experience.

    Article 16  A legal advisory office shall have one director and may have
deputy directors where necessary. The director and deputy directors shall be
elected by the lawyers in that office, subject to approval by the judicial
department (bureau) of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly
under the Central Government. They shall be elected for a term of three years
and may be reelected to successive terms in office.

    The director and deputy director(s) of a legal advisory office shall direct
the work of the office and at the same time perform their duties as lawyers.

    Article 17  The mandates for lawyers to handle cases shall be accepted and
service fees collected exclusively by the legal advisory office.

    In the distribution of cases to lawyers, the legal advisory office shall,
as best as possible and according to actual conditions, assign lawyers as
requested by clients.

    Article 18  A legal advisory office may appoint lawyers to carry out
professioal activities in other localities, and the legal advisory office there
shall provide them with assistance.

    Article 19  A lawyers association shall be established to protect the
lawful rights and interests of lawyers, to exchange work experience, to further
the progress of lawyers work and to promote contacts between legal workers
both at home and abroad.

    The lawyers association is a social organization. It shall formulate its
own articles of association.
Chapter IV  Supplementary Provisions

    Article 20  The standards for the title of lawyer, the regulations on
awards and penalties for lawyers and the measures for the collection of service
fees shall be stipulated separately by the Ministry of Justice.

    Article 21  These Regulations shall go into effect on January 1, 1982.?