| The right of evidential investigation of lawyers in criminal proceedings means the lawyers can meet the suspects or the accused, read the files, and investigate evidence to discover and acquire all kinds of relative evidential materials to prove that the suspects or accused are innocent or only commit lighter crimes, or the criminal liabilities upon them shall be abated or exempted, thus, the legal interests of the suspects and accused are protected.The right of evidential investigation of lawyers is a burden of producing evidence while it is a burden of adducing evidence for the prosecution party to prove guilty. Here are the differences: the different standards of proof, different legal results, different basis, different contents and methods for evidential investigation.The values for ensuring the evidential investigation right of lawyers are as follows: a. to clarify the case to realize the substantive justice, b. to balance the right to prosecute of the state to realize the procedural justice, c. to make the action more effective to guarantee the highly skillful and specialized criminal proceedings be smoothly carried out, e. to expressly and legislatively regulate the concrete system for lawyers to protect the legal interests of the suspects and accused and to highlight the concept on the protection of their legal interests.The lawyers' right of evidential investigation originated from the ancient Roman Times. At the end of European feudal society, the capitalist rulers absorbed some reasonable factors from the systems of law agent and defense to develop the lawyer defense system in criminal proceedings to confer the right of evidential investigation on lawyers. Nowadays, all civilized countries as well as the United Nation has established the advanced litigation civilization.Although the China's current criminal procedure law regulates clearly on the lawyers' right of evidential investigation, there are some shortcomings as follows:1. In the beginning of the criminal investigation, the lawyers don't have thequalification to defend the suspects or accused and to investigate the evidence, so that the defense party will be put at a disadvantageous position;2. The current laws are self contradicted and the rights of the defense party are unequal to that of the prosecution party;3. The lawyers' right of evidence investigation are totally controlled by the investigative target and the prosecution party, so that the system of lawyer investigation is ineffective;4. There is no judicial remedy for lawyers when their application of the investigation rights are denied;5. The lawyers' right to read the files are improperly infringed and the methods to acquire the evidence are less and less; and6. The lawyers don't have the right of job-related immunity, so that their rights of defense cannot be legally protected.The regulations about the lawyer's right to investigate and obtain the evidence in the current Criminal Procedure Law are so unbalanced and simple that the lawyers have no ways to ask for relief. Such regulations can not adapt to the development of the current reform of accusatory and adversary procedure. Therefore, the writer wants to give some suggestions on the lawyer's right to investigate and obtain the evidence in the future legislation of criminal evidence law. The suggestions are as follows:1.The content of the lawyer's right to investigate and obtain the evidence. It includes innocent defense, lesser punishment defense, mitigate punishment defense and exemption from punishment defense.2.The lawyer's methods to investigate and obtain the evidence.Firstly, the writer talks about the right of meeting with the client. As far as the ratification of the right of meeting with the client is concerned, the current law, regulation and judicial explanation have already clearly explained "the case that is involved with state secrecy". But some inquiring officers have expanded the explanation in the practice, which infringes the aiding rights of the suspect and de...
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