On The Reading Files Right Of Defense Lawyerin The Investigation Stage

As an important part of lawyers’ right to defend,defense lawyers’ right to read case files refers to the right to lawfully grant lawyers the right to access,reproduce,and extract case file information in order to protect the lawful rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings.Granting defense lawyers the right to read the case files at the investigation stage can solve the unequal armed inequality caused by the unequal investigative powers of the prosecution and the defense,so as to ensure the balance of prosecution and defense in trials,in line with the general trend of the development of criminal procedure law in the world.China’s defense lawyers’ right to read case files during the investigation stage can be specifically constructed in terms of subject,scope,methods,and safeguard measures.In terms of subjects,there is no doubt that defense lawyers take their professional qualities as the ideal subject for reading the papers;In terms of the scope of file reading,defense lawyers shall have the right to review the "Request for Approval of Arrest",the criminal suspect’s confessions and defenses,relevant appraisal opinions,victims’ statements,physical evidence,documentary evidence,and records of relevant investigations,inquests,inspections,and investigative experiments;In the exercise of their rights,defence counsel should be provided with convenient conditions for reading the case;In terms of safeguard measures,the rights supervision system,the safeguard system,and the rules and punishment mechanisms for lawyers exercising their right to read case files may be improved.