On The Improvement Of On-duty Lawyer System In Criminal Procedings

In 2018,China amended the Criminal Procedure Law and formally set up the on-duty lawyer system.All provinces,autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government have basically realized the full coverage of legal aid workstations in detention centers,and lawyers on duty provide legal assistance to criminal suspects and defendants.Attorneys on duty are not the defenders of criminal suspects and defendants.They do not have the law rights.However,attorneys on duty still have important value in criminal proceedings.Under the background of full coverage of criminal defense,the duty lawyer system,the appointment defense system and the entrusted defense system play an important role in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants.As the practice of the system improved in China,some inherent problems are gradually exposed in the system,which deserves great attention.The main manifestations are as follows: Firstly,duty lawyers do not have the necessary litigation rights to perform their duties,such as the right to review papers and meet with lawyers.Lawyers are difficult to understand the case in depth,and can not provide effective legal assistance to criminal suspects and defendants;secondly,duty lawyers are too short in intervening in criminal cases that may apply the quick-decision procedure,unable to fully understand and study the case,and difficult to play their role.Third,the material conditions supporting the effective operation of the on-duty lawyer system are relatively scarce,such as the small number of lawyers on duty,the limited allowance for lawyers on duty,etc.Fourthly,there is no stable relationship between the on-duty lawyer and the assisted suspects and defendants,and there is no mechanism for the on-duty lawyer to help the specific accused steadily and continuously.The aforementioned problems will greatly affect on-duty lawyers to provide effective help to criminal suspects and defendants,and even lead to the vacancy of the on-duty lawyer system.Our country should learn from the beneficial experience of the overseas duty lawyer system and perfect it according to our national conditions.The purpose of perfecting the lawyer's duty system is to maximize the value of the lawyer on duty,so as to provide effective legal aid for criminal suspects and defendants.We can improve the system as the move listed before : firstly,we should give the lawyers corresponding litigation rights,such as have assess to review papers,have assess to meet,the right to be present in plea-bargaining,etc.secondly,we should appropriately extend the time limit for handling criminal cases to be applied to the quick adjudication procedure;thirdly,we should strengthen the material support of the system of on-duty lawyers,such as expanding the team of on-duty lawyers,mentioning cases.Fourthly,we should establish a mechanism for lawyers on duty to help defendants steadily and continuously,including improving the way lawyers work on duty and establishing a mechanism for connecting lawyers on duty and appointing defendants.