Beijing to tighten rein over lawyers
By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-12 09:11

A campaign to stop unregistered lawyers from operating and to fight against corruption within the booming legal industry will be initiated in Beijing.

According to Wu Yuhua, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice, which is in charge of regulating lawyers, a lack of quality has become the main problem for people wanting legal representation in the nation's capital.

Statistics show that among the complaints against lawyers that were received by the bureau and the Beijing Lawyers' Association, nearly 50 per cent claimed that the lawyers failed to fulfil their duties.

Vice-secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Qiang Wei announced at the weekend that the authorities will step up efforts over the next nine months to solve the problems within the sector.

An effective system is expected to be established to regulate the sector, according to Qiang.

Qiang made the remarks after a working conference was held on Friday to look at ways that the industry can be improved, which was organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice.

Beijing has more than 7,000 registered lawyers, according to statistics.

But sources said some lawyers were unscrupulous, charging extra fees.

"Even worse still, some did not do any work for their clients after being paid," Wu pointed out.

Wu said the problems have tarnished the credibility of lawyers and the profession.

In an attempt to rectify the situation, the bureau now requires all of the lawyer offices in Beijing to make fee collection standards open to the public.

And a system to punish conniving lawyers will be established.

It was also stressed that unregistered lawyers, the running of illegal offices, the operation of illegal consultative organizations and other unethical behaviour will not be tolerated.

The management of legitimate law practices will also be looked at.

"Unfair competition in terms of prices exists within the industry. Some offices even use commissions to induce customers to choose their lawyers," Wu said.

Almost half of Beijing's firms were established during the past three years. About 40 per cent of complaints were about them.

Corruption also exists among lawyers and judges, say sources.

Wu said some lawyers colluded with judges to make profits from trials, which infringed on the interests of litigants,

"Some lawyers have corrupted judges in attempts to make final judgments favourable to their clients," he said.

The Ministry of Justice announced earlier that it would regulate lawyer services throughout China this year.

Zhao Dacheng, director of the ministry's department in charge of supervising lawyers, told the China News Service in February that the industry suffers from inept management and lacks credibility.