Look at the news from The Knews reporter Zhang Shuaixia
2021-12-11 10:15
Yesterday, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, together with the Shanghai Municipal High People's Court and the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate, held a press conference to jointly introduce the "Implementation Measures on Further Regulating the Conduct of Judges, Procurators and Lawyers in Contact and Interaction."
On November 30, the "Implementation Measures" jointly issued by the three departments of the city were officially implemented. In addition to current judges, procurators, and full-time and part-time lawyers, the Implementation Measures also include departing judges, procurators, public lawyers, corporate lawyers, secretaries, administrative, human resources, information technology, risk control and other staff employed by law firms, as well as administrative personnel of court procuratorates, to further standardize their exchanges and contacts and truly safeguard judicial fairness.
It is reported that on the basis of implementing the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Justice on Establishing and Improving the System and Mechanism for Prohibiting Judges, Procurators, and Lawyers from Engaging in Improper Contact and Interaction, and on the basis of Shanghai's actual conditions, the "Implementation Measures" of this city have listed a total of 27 prohibited negative lists that may affect judicial fairness.
There are 16 prohibitions on judges and prosecutors:
1. Accept gifts, gifts, consumption cards, prizes, bonuses, securities, equity, other financial products and other property from lawyers or law firms; as well as fees that should be borne by units or individuals by lawyers or law firms.
2. Raising funds, borrowing money, or borrowing property from lawyers or law firms in the name of themselves, spouses, children, their spouses, or other specific related persons.
3. Accept relevant benefits from lawyers or law firms in the name of providing legal advice, legal services, etc.
4. Accept the invitation of a lawyer or law firm, accept a meal invitation, enter or leave a private club in violation of regulations, or accept travel, fitness, entertainment and other activity arrangements.
5. Participate in various activities provided by lawyers or law firms that may affect the fair performance of official duties.
6. Acquiescing, conniving, or shielding spouses, children, and their spouses or other specific related persons from seeking benefits from lawyers or law firms, as well as violating regulations in economic exchanges with lawyers or law firms that may affect their fair administration of justice.
7. Arranging or acquiescing in violation of regulations for spouses, children, their spouses, or other specific related persons to work in law firms or obtain remuneration in violation of regulations.
8. Interfering in or meddling in judicial cases, seeking improper litigation benefits for lawyers or law firms or harming their lawful rights and interests.
9. Participate in lectures, symposiums, seminars, training, forums, academic exchanges, opening celebrations and other activities held by lawyers or law firms without the needs of work and without the approval of the unit where they work.
10. Deliberately leaking case-handling work, case secrets, or other case information that must not be disclosed in accordance with laws and regulations to lawyers.
11. Without the consent of the unit or organization, privately meet with the parties involved in the case and the lawyers entrusted by them.
12. Recommend or introduce lawyers as their agents or defenders for parties, or introduce legal services such as representation or defense for lawyers; in violation of regulations, provide advisory opinions or legal opinions to parties knowingly involved in the case and their retained lawyers.
13. Cooperate with lawyers, joint ventures, nominee holdings, etc., to engage in business or other for-profit activities.
14. Arrange or acquiesce in violation of regulations for spouses, children and their spouses or other specific related persons to "cooperate" with lawyers to start a business or "cooperate" in investment.
15. Charge high interest on loans to lawyers or law firms.
16. Other acts of improper contact and interaction that may affect judicial fairness and judicial authority.
There are 11 prohibitions on lawyers:
1. Request judges and procurators to inquire into judicial organs' case-handling work secrets or other case information that must not be leaked in accordance with laws and regulations.
2. Request leading cadres to interfere in judicial activities and meddle in the handling of specific cases in violation of regulations; request that internal personnel of judicial organs inquire into cases in violation of regulations, obstructing judicial fairness, including requesting intercession in the links of clue verification, case filing, investigation, review for prosecution, trial, and enforcement, requesting that case-handling personnel be invited to meet privately, requesting that materials involved in the case be transmitted in violation of regulations, and requesting violations of regulations to inquire into the case and ventilate information.
3. Request that judges or procurators recommend or introduce parties to become agents ad litem or defenders in the case, request that judges or procurators introduce cases, and request that judges or procurators request, recommend, or imply that parties change lawyers who meet the requirements for representation.
4. Inviting guests to give gifts to judges or procurators or conveying other benefits, including instigating or inducing parties or interested parties to pay bribes to judges or procurators, or giving material or immaterial benefits to judges or procurators before or after the dispute, or sending relevant benefits to judges or procurators in the name of providing legal advice or legal services.
5. Inviting judges and procurators to eat in violation of regulations, entering or leaving private clubs, or arranging tours, fitness, entertainment, and other activities that may affect the fair administration of justice, or accepting requests from judges or procurators for loans, renting houses, borrowing means of transportation, communication tools, or other items.
6. Request judges and procurators to receive them in non-workplaces and non-working hours that are not necessary for work.
7. Indicate or imply to the parties that they have a special relationship with judges or procurators, as well as express or implied special relationships with judicial organs, judges, or procurators in public or through the media.
8. Invite judges and procurators to participate in activities such as the opening or celebration of law firms.
9. Accepting internships and applications for practice by departing judges and procurators in violation of regulations.
10. Arrange for judges, procurators' spouses, children, and other specific related persons to illegally obtain remuneration at law firms.
11. Other acts of improper contact and interaction that may affect judicial fairness and judicial authority.
According to the "Implementation Measures", in the course of handling a case, judges, procurators, and the lawyer undertaking the case must not meet privately, and if it is truly necessary to contact the case in a non-workplace or non-working hours, the judge or procurator shall go through the examination and approval formalities in accordance with relevant provisions and obtain approval, and at the same time record the relevant circumstances for retention, and the lawyer undertaking the case shall report in writing to the law firm; Procurators shall report the relevant circumstances to the discipline inspection and supervision bodies dispatched to that unit or to that unit's internal supervision department within three days of contact, and the lawyer undertaking the case shall explain the situation in writing to the law firm within three days of contact.
In addition, the "Implementation Measures" also stipulate five prohibited acts for outgoing judges and procurators:
1. Serve as an agent ad litem or defender as a lawyer within two years of leaving the people's court or people's procuratorate;
2. Serve as an agent ad litem or defender of a case handled by a people's court or people's procuratorate where the party was previously employed, except as the guardian or close relative of a party in the litigation or conducting a defense;
3. Undertake legal affairs related to cases that have been handled;
4. Matchmaking between judges, prosecutors and lawyers in improper contact and interaction, and acting as judicial brokers;
5. Use anonymous names and other methods to circumvent restrictions on employment and provide legal services in violation of regulations.
In addition to the prohibited negative list, the "Implementation Measures" also systematically construct a mechanism for legitimate exchanges and benign interactions such as regular consultations between judges, procurators and lawyers, training in the same classroom, mutual supervision and mutual evaluation, exchanges and cooperation, rights protection, joint investigation and handling, and information docking, and strive to combine "loosening" and "blocking", establish and improve the good relationship between judges, procurators and lawyers who respect each other, understand each other, support each other, supervise each other, and communicate on an equal footing, and further strengthen the construction of a socialist legal professional community with Chinese characteristics. Promote open, transparent and standardized contacts and exchanges among members of the legal professional community.
(Look at the news Knows reporter: Zhang Shuaixia)
