Lawyers at risk trying to apply the law
In his 10 years as a lawyer, Mao Liequn might have taken a beating in court, but never like the one administered by a gang of thugs on August 25.
Eight members of the Shen family pummelled the lawyer to the ground, broke his nose and left him covered in blood when he visited a Shanghai cargo wharf to prepare for a routine business transaction. The gang claimed the right to use the wharf, which Mr Mao's client was planning to buy.
'We need clearer legal protection,' said Mr Mao, his breathing still affected months after the incident. 'There are calls, but there hasn't been any substantial action on the legislative side. Maybe we need more of these cases,' he said through a pained smile.
National figures are not available but Shanghai alone had at least six cases of violence against lawyers in 2005 and at least two this year, according to the local bar association. In another Shanghai case, a printing company boss broke the eardrum of a lawyer doing pro bono work for a migrant worker seeking compensation for a work-related injury.
Cases of violence against lawyers are made more complicated if the government is somehow involved. One international rights group has documented five cases of lawyers being assaulted, often by unidentified thugs linked to local officials, within the past year.
Violence is just one of the occupational hazards facing lawyers working in the mainland's legal system, where the power of the state often bumps up against attempts to uphold the rule of law. At the same time, the industry is booming as the shift to a market economy and an increasingly litigious society create growing demand for legal services.
Mr Mao, managing partner of the Shanghai Eternal Law Firm, lists some of the obstacles in his profession, even for someone like himself specialising in commercial law, including gaining access to evidence and detained clients.
'Legal services are continuously developing but there are many customs and laws that haven't changed. In carrying out our duties, we meet difficulties,' he said.
It can be impossible for lawyers to view documents held by government bodies, such as company registrations. 'There are some things you can't find, only the state has this power,' Mr Mao said.
A report from the Shanghai Bar Association highlighted another problem: police bar lawyers from meeting clients at detention facilities because they do not have permission from prosecutors, despite rules for suspects which allow such visits.
'It's been a depressing year for lawyers in China,' said Jerome Cohen, a professor at the New York University School of Law who has advised the mainland government.
Although China has a growing body of laws, and leaders have stressed the need for a country run by the rule of law, practitioners who try to apply the law have faced persecution.
Professor Cohen citied several prominent rights cases this year as well as new rules issued in March by the All-China Lawyers Association which govern 'mass' cases. Lawyers handling cases involving more than 10 people or 'major sensitive cases' must inform judicial-related bodies and accept their supervision. 'It's an enormous setback for the legal profession,' he said.
In the latest case involving an activist lawyer, a Beijing court on Friday sentenced Gao Zhisheng to three years in jail, suspended for five years, for posting articles which the authorities claimed were aimed at overthrowing the government. Gao handled several rights cases, representing everyone from religious activists to farmers in land disputes.
The lawyers of Chen Guangcheng , the blind activist who revealed forced abortions in a village in Shandong province , were obstructed from meeting witnesses before a recent retrial and prevented from cross-examining a witness for the prosecution.
The court upheld Chen's original sentence of four years and three months for destruction of property and disrupting traffic.
At a recent appeal for The New York Times journalist Zhao Yan , his side was not allowed to make arguments, present evidence or call witnesses. Zhao was sentenced to three years in jail for fraud after a charge of leaking state secrets was dropped. His detention followed a story in The New York Times that former president Jiang Zemin would surrender his last official post.
Shanghai lawyer Zheng Enchong was released from jail earlier this year after he served a term for revealing state secrets because he contacted a human rights group about forced evictions and labour disputes.
But he has been placed under house arrest, in a broad interpretation of rules involving deprivation of political rights. He previously advised hundreds of people on compensation packages for relocation due to development projects.
Legal experts see a glimmer of hope in the recent move by China's Supreme Court to reclaim its right to have final review of death sentences, effective from January 1.
'This may be the entering wedge for significant reforms of the appellate and Supreme Court review process generally in criminal cases,' Professor Cohen said.
China executes thousands of criminals annually, but local media have reported several cases in which people were wrongly sentenced to death.
The challenge will be to train judges to review death sentence cases and improve procedures.
By the end of last year, China had nearly 180,000 judges, but almost 20,000 left the profession over the past five years due to retirement and other reasons, according to state media.
The country has nearly 11,700 law firms and roughly 118,000 lawyers, which is about one lawyer to every 11,000 of China's 1.3 billion people.
