Lawyers plagued with red tape

Expert laments lack of access to suspects, difficulty in seeing files, and challenges in compelling witnesses to speak, Zhang Yan discovers

The capital's criminal defense lawyers are pleading for change after complaining that three major difficulties are holding back their work, according to a senior lawyer from the National Lawyer Association. Li Guifang, vice-head of the criminal defense committee with the association, told METRO there are more than 20,000 qualified lawyers in Beijing practicing at 1,300 law firms. But he said only 4,000 are taking part in criminal defense work.Li said the volume of criminal defense work has fallen by 30 percent recently.

He said the three major difficulties facing criminal lawyers are: Meeting with detained suspects during the police investigation period; fully going through case files before court hearings begin; and getting witnesses to testify in court.