Research On Meeting Of Bribery Case On Investigation Stage

As a right of defense lawyers, meeting right is specifically protected by laws and actively safeguarded by lawyers. As for bribery cases, it is of great significance for criminal suspects whether they can meet with their defense lawyers or not. If they can, their rights will be maintained properly. Because of lack of direct evidence to prove suspects guilty, procuratorial organs intend to make a breakthrough by taking them into custody and interrogating them. In this way, suspects are often at a disadvantage owing to inability to defense for themselves effectively. Provided that the lawyer is entrusted with the case, who performs an intervention in the case prior to the phase of investigation and exercises the right to defense, the relatively sealed mode of investigation in bribery cases will be broken. However, during the investigation phrase, lawyers meeting with the suspect will exert a positive effect on maintaining the justice between accusers and the accused, improving judicial fairness and authority and safeguarding the legal rights of the accused. But in fact, it’s somewhat difficult for lawyers to wield the meeting right during the investigation phase. We must find out the underlying causes for this problem and propose some pertinent measures, so that they will have considerable practical significance on improving standard system of meeting right, achieving positive interaction between both sides, safeguarding the legal rights of suspects and promoting the advancement of criminal defense system.Excluding introduction and conclusion, this dissertation is divided into four parts and the following are the main contents:In the first part, this dissertation will introduce how meeting rights of lawyers in bribery cases has changed since the new criminal procedure law was enacted and taken into effect. In order to better the current situation of lawyers having difficulties in meeting with the suspect, the Criminal Procedure Law revised in 2012 has added many new legal norms to guarantee the meeting right on the basis of the Lawyers Law. Compared with the Criminal Procedure Law in 1996, the meeting right has more contents, such as, criminal suspects can entrust their lawyers during the phase of investigation, meeting procedures also become more convenient, investigating organs can no longer have people watched on the scene, etc. Meanwhile, the 47 th article in the new Criminal Procedure Law carves out a new rescuing way for the problem of violating lawyers’ meeting right.In the second part, this dissertation will sum up main obstacles that lawyers are confronted with while meeting with suspects in bribery cases during the phase of investigation. Although the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law and the Lawyers Law has some apparent effect on solving this problem in criminal cases, the situation is still serious and tough for lawyers in bribery cases. For example, procuratorial organs may prevent lawyers from meeting with suspects by defining ordinary bribery cases as serious ones, and the relevant departments may postpone arranging the appointment between lawyers and suspects out of no reason or make special requirements during the appointment. As a result, lawyers’ rights are violated and even there is no effective rescue. Besides, there exists many obstacles in the judicial practices.In the third part, this dissertation will analyze the underlying causes for the problem. In general, there are four major causes. In terms of legal norms, judicial interpretation doesn’t have a clear identification of scope for serious bribery cases, and the Criminal Procedure Law has some major flaws in its procedural rules about lawyers’ meeting right. At the same time, procuratorial organs have such problems as failing to change both their ideas of law enforcement and their modes of investigation, and lack of reasonable evaluation systems of law enforcement and investigate cases. Driven by interests of the department, these organs inevitably choose to deter lawyers from meeting with suspects. In terms of lawyers themselves, tempted by money and other interests, they are likely to take risks to violate professional ethnics and practice discipline and meet with their clients inappropriately and illegally, thus causing people to have prejudice against this profession. Besides, such objective factors as deficient criminal policies also have some negative effect on lawyers’ meeting right.In the fourth part, this dissertation will make some suggestions to guard the meeting right. Firstly, we must improve relevant laws and regulations; secondly, procuratorial organs must transform both the ideas of law enforcement and the modes of investigation, enhance the investigation standard and capability, and establish a sound system to restrict the investigation right and supervise the meeting between lawyers and their clients. Thirdly, both investigators and lawyers should improve their own quality and strengthen mutual trust and cooperation; lastly, criminal policies should not only crack down on bribery crimes, but also adopt a policy combining punishment with leniency. Safeguarding lawyers’ meeting right is safeguarding their human rights, all of which are a necessary requirement and an essential part of maintaining judicial justice and establishing a society under the rule of law.