On Lawyers' Extrajudicial Speeches

Lawyers' extrajudicial speeches have always been a center of attention.The 9th Amendment of Criminal Law added the Crime of Leaking Confidential Information of Cases,which attracted even more attention to this issue.A lawyer's extrajudicial speech is a statement containing judicial information given by an appointed lawyer to the public outside of the legal procedure.Such speeches bloom in current China due to the defective part of legal system,as well as the convenience of internet.At some point,such speeches do have a value in helping the public to familiar legal information and helping pursuit justice in particular cases,thus it's good for the whole legal system.But inappropriate speeches given by lawyers may not only severely hurt individuals' rights but also do great damage to the justice,especially in current China.In order to tackle such problems,due measures are required.With this background,the Crime of Leaking Confidential Information of Cases can have a positive influence.Regulations other than criminal law in our country have many different rules on this matter,but most of them are not clear and in need of explanation.Without the full usage of non-criminal regulations whether it is right to use criminal measures requires consideration.Besides,out of statics on punishments to such behaviors,both before and after this new penalty came into legal practices,question arose that whether it is necessary to use criminal law to deal such problems.Dose it go against the modesty principle of criminal law?Many scholars also regard this crime itself a discrimination against lawyers.As for the articles of this crime,crime institution and objects of behavior are quite vague.Without appropriate explanation,this newly passed crime could turn into a 'pocket crime',falling into a destiny of reprisal tools used by authorities against lawyers.Based on such illustrations,and under the current judicial status quo,the focus of measures should be restricted on lawyers' speech other than preventing judges from being influenced.Thus,the reasonable pass towards guiding lawyers' extrajudicial speeches should be to fulfill the existing regulations and give bar association more power.Meanwhile,the forthcoming judicial interpretation should use rigorous methods to explain the Crime of Leaking Confidential Information of Cases.