About the Presentation

As an important supplement to the legal aid system, the on-duty lawyer system originated in the United Kingdom and was gradually absorbed and established by modern rule of law countries such as Australia, Canada, and Japan, and became an important part of the legal aid system of these countries. The number of criminal defense lawyers in China is limited, and the criminal defense rate continues to be low. On-duty lawyers should be a criminal defense component. Since the establishment of the pilot program in China in 2006, the on-duty lawyer system has achieved a series of developments until 2018, which was written into the Criminal Procedure Law. However, the on-duty lawyer system has also exposed many problems in terms of responsibilities, operation mechanism, and management. Especially the position of on-duty lawyers(are they " legal aid providers" or "defenders"?)and the role of them in plea guilty cases have caused big arguments among academic and judicial practice. I would like to share with you the development status and future prospects of the on-duty lawyer system in China.

About the Speaker

Jie Meng is a Ph.D candidate in Criminal Procedure Law at Rinmin University of China in Beijing, where she obtained her Master’s degree. She is also a research assistant at Center for Criminal Justice and Reform of Renmin University, participating in several projects, such as “reducing the application of pre-trial detentions in China” and “Promoting Effective Safeguards During Criminal Pre-Trial Detention”.  Her research field focuses on criminal pre-trial procedure and Chinese juridical reform. She has published several high-quality papers in Chinese journals and newspapers about these issues. Ms.Meng was also invited to visit National Chung Cheng University (CCU) as a visiting scholar. At USALI, she will conduct research on the standardization of criminal investigation and precaution of unjust, false and erroneous cases.