Protect lawyers' rights to safeguard rule of law

TWO LAWYERS from Beijing were violently attacked in broad daylight just 50 meters away from the court where they had been representing the plaintiff in an illegal demolition case in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei province, on Dec 6. Ten people were seized and put on trial, and their ringleader, the person in charge of the demolition work, was sentenced 22 months imprisonment on Wednesday. Thepaper.cn comments:

Justice has been served in the trial of the thugs, which drew wide concern, not least from the judicial and public security authorities and the All China Lawyers Association, which have viewed the attack on the lawyers as an insult to the rule of law.

The case has cast light on the environment in which lawyers have to work in China. The profession has long been stigmatized, and legal practitioners are often depicted as either sellers of their souls to the highest bidder or else troublemakers. It is not uncommon for those lawyers who are diligently upholding the law and defending the downtrodden to be threatened by various forms of power and meet many forces of resistance.

Whether those lawyers seeking to fulfill their duties can do so directly concerns whether the rule of law is effective in a society. Before a court delivers a guilty verdict, even if there is overwhelming evidence to support that decision, a person can only be regarded as a suspect, not a criminal. It is the duty of lawyers to defend his or her legal rights, that does not mean they are complicit or condone the perpetrator's illegal deeds.

To safeguard the rule of law, China must protect legal rights and interests of lawyers, including their personal safety.

That's why the judicial authorities have underscored the urgency and necessity of relevant departments' protecting the lawyers from insults, slandering, threats, revenge and personal injury, and the central authorities have made the protection of lawyers' rights part of China's judicial institutional reform.