China issues rules to control communications between judges, lawyers

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 19, 2004

China issues rules to control communications between judges, lawyers

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued a regulation to curb the dealings between judges and lawyers during litigation Thursday.

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The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued a regulation to curb the dealings between judges and lawyers during litigation Thursday.

Judges are banned from meeting one party of a lawsuit and his lawyer in private and lawyers are forbidden to meet the judge of his case in private either, according to the regulation.

A practical regulation was needed to control the communications between judges and lawyers though there are related items in the Law on Judges and Law on Lawyers, the spokesman of the SPC said Thursday.

Illegal interrelations between judges and lawyers have been a problem in the country's judicial sector and that made the two organs decide to join hands, the source said.

Some lawyers bribed judges so as to win the case and some judges took sides for private interests, which has severely harmed the justice of the court and the law, the SPC source said.

Some judges suggested parties hire lawyers they had close personal relations with and then received rake-offs from the lawyers.

A judge is banned from accepting money, gifts and securities from one party of the lawsuit and his lawyer as well as their invitation for dinner and entertainment and also not allowed to borrow things, including vehicles, from them, according to the regulation.

A lawyer can report a judge, who violates the regulation, to the court by himself or through the judiciary or lawyers' associations and vice versa, the regulation said.

Parties and other people also can report lawyers and judges who violate the regulation to the court, the judiciary and lawyers association, it said.

The SPC and Ministry expect the regulation to improve the supervision of judges and lawyers in a bid to protect the interests of the parties, the SPC spokesman said.

The Law on Lawyers went into effect on Jan. 1, 1997 and was revised in 2001 while the Law on Judges was issued on Feb. 28, 1995 and also amended in 2001.

Source: Xinhua

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