New procedures in place are already helping to protect lawyers

Lawyers associations at the national and local levels have accepted 377 complaints from lawyers about their rights being infringed upon since March, a senior officer from the association said. Of those, 142 cases were resolved, with lawyers' legal rights being upheld.

The other 235 cases remain under verification and investigation, Lyu Hongbing, vice-chairman of the association, told China Daily.

Among the complaints, 164 concerned about lawyers' claims of being barred from meeting their clients, reading case files, collecting evidence or being kept from protesting to higher judicial authorities about possible torture of their clients or other injustices they found while handling cases.