Study On Lawyers’ Participation In Plea Leniency Cases

With the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law,the leniency system of looking favorably on admissions of guilt,which is the front of the reform of criminal procedure in China,has been formally implemented.The core of this system is that the criminal suspect and the defendant can obtain certain sentencing preferences through voluntary confession and independent selection procedures,thus simplifying the procedure,speeding up the handling of criminal cases,promoting the separation of complicated and simple cases,relieving the pressure of judicial organs to handle cases,and effectively balancing justice and efficiency.However,due to the lag of legislation and the changeful and complicated judicial reality,the operation of the leniency system of looking favorably on admissions of guilt is not satisfactory.Hence,the effective participation of lawyers is of great significance to promote the good operation of the leniency system of looking favorably on admissions of guilt.In this study,the lawyers involved in guilty plea cases are divided into two types according to the different ways of involvement: on-duty lawyers with effective help and defense lawyers by entrusted defenders.The main problems existing in on-duty lawyers are the inaccurate positioning of duty lawyers by the authorities,the lack of effective standards of the system itself and systematic management and guarantee measures for duty lawyers,etc.;and the main problems existing in defense lawyers include the lack of effective defense standards,and the deficiency in remedies for infringement of counsel’s right to defence,etc.Then,the problems of poor connection between the two types of defense lawyers are summarized.In view of the above problems,suggestions are made from three levels.First,the suggestions on solving the effective participation of the on-duty lawyers is to grant on-duty lawyers with the identity of "quasi-defender" and broadening the right of defense enjoyed by on-duty lawyers;Second,the suggestions on improving the participation of defense lawyers include standardizing the independent defense right of defense lawyers and balancing the internal contradictions of defense parties;formulating local standards of effective defense with reference to foreign effective national defense standards;establishing remedies for infringement of lawyers’ right to defence;Finally,in view of the problem of poor connection between the two types of lawyers,suggestions are made from the following aspects: increasing the procuratorate’s obligation to inform,guaranteeing the priority of entrusting defense lawyers to participate,encouraging the direct conversion of the two,and applying for the resumption of the admission of guilt.