A lawyer who has helped more than 800 migrant workers in Shenzhen fight for their rights over the past five years is mounting a fresh challenge against a decision by a city justice bureau to bar him from practising.
Zhou Litai, many of whose clients have been seeking compensation after being maimed in industrial accidents, yesterday filed a petition at Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court seeking to overturn a decision by the Longgang District Court that effectively disqualifies him from practising in Shenzhen.
Mr Zhou had filed a lawsuit with the court claiming an order by the Longgang Justice Bureau that he could not practise in Shenzhen was illegal. However, the court ruled against Mr Zhou on June 19 and the verdict was delivered to him yesterday.
Justice bureaus are local branches of the Ministry of Justice and are responsible for the management of lawyers in China.
After receiving the verdict, Mr Zhou immediately filed a petition in Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court seeking to overturn it.
He said the Longgang Justice Bureau had ruled he should not be allowed to practise in Shenzhen and had cited the Lawyers' Law which stipulates a lawyer cannot practise in two law firms at the same time. Mr Zhou is a director of Litai Law Firm in Chongqing but he has been practising in Shenzhen since 1997.
