In the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and comprehensively advancing law-based governance, lawyers have demonstrated new achievements in serving the overall situati

At present, the development of the legal profession in our country has entered a new era.

Under the leadership of the Party, the vast number of lawyers have adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, practiced the purpose of people's lawyers serving the people, served reform and opening up, the overall situation and the people, and promoted the work of lawyers in China to a new level. They have demonstrated new achievements and made new accomplishments in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and advancing law-based governance in all respects

Village (community) legal advisors provide "zero-distance" services to the public

Village (residential) legal advisors are the legal "family doctors" of communities and rural areas, providing legal opinions, consultations and assistance to village (residential) self-governing organizations and the general public, enabling the common people to enjoy universal "legal diagnosis and treatment" nearby.

The Ministry of Justice attaches great importance to the work of village (community) legal advisors. It has successively issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Public Legal Service Platforms" and the "Opinions on Further Strengthening and Standardizing the Work of Village (Community) Legal Advisors", making arrangements and deployments for basically achieving full coverage of village (community) legal advisors across the country. At the same time, guide all regions to actively innovate working methods, explore and promote "Internet + village (community) legal Counsel", establish wechat groups for village (community) legal counsel, and achieve "zero distance" legal services for the people.

The person in charge of the Lawyer Work Bureau of the Ministry of Justice told the Legal Daily that by the end of 2018, nearly 650,000 villages (communities) across the country had achieved full coverage of village (community) legal advisors. Nearly 200,000 lawyers and grassroots legal service workers participated in this work, and more than 400,000 wechat groups for village (community) legal advisors had been established.

Since the launch of this work, village (community) legal advisors have been actively providing public welfare legal services to villagers (residents), playing an important role in promoting law-based governance at the grassroots level, serving and guaranteeing people's livelihood, and maintaining social harmony and stability." The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau said.

The "legal health check" for private enterprises effectively serves the healthy development of enterprises

On November 12, 2018, the Ministry of Justice issued the "Implementation Plan for the Special Activity of Legal Health Check for Private Enterprises", arranging for lawyers to conduct a comprehensive "legal health check" for key private enterprises by the end of 2018.

It is understood that this is a significant measure taken by the Ministry of Justice from the perspective of the overall situation of the Party and the country's work, to provide high-quality services and create a favorable environment for promoting the development of the private economy. It is also an important innovation in the work of lawyers to serve the people and play their functional roles.

The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau told reporters that this "legal health check" for private enterprises is positioned as a free public welfare legal service. Professional lawyers are organized by judicial administrative organs at all levels and lawyers' associations to form service teams. They will provide "one-on-one" legal health check services to key private enterprises around issues such as policy interpretation and publicity, legal environment guarantee, corporate governance structure, and risk prevention and resolution. Comprehensively understand the production and operation as well as law-based governance of private enterprises, analyze their legal demands and risk points, identify institutional loopholes and weak links, improve the legal risk early warning and prevention mechanism, provide legal consultation, answer legal questions, put forward suggestions and opinions, and promote the further forward movement of the legal protection checkpoint.

It is reported that during the event, over 3,100 lawyer service teams of different scales and types were formed across the country, with 17,600 lawyers participating in the services. More than 6,500 legal and policy lectures were held, and over 56,000 private enterprises of various types were directly contacted and served. More than 44,000 disputes or legal and litigation issues were resolved. More than 78,000 suggestions for legal risk prevention and control were put forward, and over 24,000 relevant opinions and suggestions from private enterprises were collected, which effectively served the legal operation and healthy development of enterprises.

At present, the Ministry of Justice is studying and making arrangements to institutionalize and regularize the "legal health check" activity for private enterprises, striving to provide more high-quality legal services and more solid legal guarantees for the development of private enterprises. The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau said.

The pilot program of full coverage of criminal case defense by lawyers strengthens the protection of judicial human rights

Since October 2017, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice have deployed a pilot program for full coverage of criminal case defense by lawyers in eight provinces (municipalities) including Beijing.

It is understood that the most fundamental requirement of the pilot program for full coverage of criminal case defense by lawyers is to expand the scope of notification for defense. That is, in addition to the five types of situations where the parties themselves hire lawyers for defense and those stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law, such as minors and the blind, deaf and mute, who should be notified for defense, Expand the scope of cases where defense is notified during the trial stage to include first-instance cases and second-instance cases tried under the ordinary procedure, as well as cases tried under the trial supervision procedure. At the same time, for cases tried under the summary procedure or the expedised procedure, if the defendant has no defense attorney, a duty lawyer is arranged to provide legal assistance to him, ensuring that the criminal suspect and defendant receive 100% legal assistance and legal defense.

This is an important measure to promote judicial reform and the reform of the lawyer system, and also a major progress in the judicial protection of human rights in our country. It is of great significance for giving full play to the defense function of lawyers in criminal cases, maintaining judicial justice, and demonstrating the progress of socialist rule of law civilization in our country. The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau told the reporter.

It is reported that since the pilot work was launched, more than 100,000 cases across the country have been notified for defense due to the expansion of the pilot program for full coverage of criminal cases by lawyers. At present, the Ministry of Justice has arranged to expand the pilot scope to 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, continuously improving the defense rate of criminal cases, better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants, and further enhancing the level of judicial human rights protection.

The pilot program of lawyer mediation has achieved good legal and social effects

Since September 2017, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice have jointly deployed the pilot work of lawyer mediation in 11 provinces (municipalities) including Beijing and Heilongjiang.

It is understood that lawyer mediation is an activity where lawyers, legally established lawyer mediation studios or lawyer mediation centers act as neutral third parties to preside over the mediation, assisting the parties involved in the dispute to reach an agreement through voluntary negotiation to resolve the dispute. Carrying out lawyer mediation is an innovative measure to improve China's litigation system. It is conducive to resolving civil and commercial disputes in a timely manner, saving judicial resources and litigation costs, and promoting the formation of a diversified dispute resolution system with Chinese characteristics.

Since the launch of the pilot program, the pilot areas have continuously improved their working systems, strengthened the construction of lawyer mediation teams, and innovated mediation working models. A total of over 2,300 lawyer mediation studios (centers) have been established, 18,000 lawyer mediators have been developed, lawyers have participated in the mediation of over 38,000 cases, and over 17,000 mediation agreements have been reached, effectively resolving a number of conflicts and disputes It has achieved good legal and social effects.

The Ministry of Justice has arranged to expand the pilot scope to 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, further leveraging the advantages of lawyers in mediation to facilitate the general public in resolving disputes in a time-saving, labor-saving and cost-effective manner, better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and promoting social fairness and justice. The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau said.

The lawyer's participation in the reception of public complaints has achieved good results and received widespread praise

In December 2016, the Ministry of Justice and the National Bureau for Letters and Calls jointly issued the "Opinions on Deepening Lawyers' Participation in Letters and Calls Work", making overall arrangements for lawyers' participation in letters and calls work.

The person in charge of the Lawyers' Work Bureau told reporters that promoting lawyers' participation in petition work is conducive to giving full play to the professional advantages of lawyers and the role of third parties, guiding petitioners to express their demands through legal procedures, resolve disputes by legal means, and safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests with legal weapons. It is also beneficial to enhancing the ability of relevant departments to solve problems and defuse conflicts with the rule of law thinking and methods. Enhance the awareness of handling affairs in accordance with the law.

According to statistics, up to now, lawyers who have received visits from the National Bureau for Letters and Calls have received a total of 7,560 visits from the public, and over 60% of the people they have received have not visited again.

Through lawyers' reception of petitioners, many petitioners accepted the lawyers' opinions on the spot, either expressing their intention to cease litigation and petitioning, or returning to their local areas to collect evidence in preparation for filing a lawsuit, or reflecting the situation to relevant departments through legal channels, achieving very good results.

"This is not only an advancement in the rule of law, but also a progress in society." "Good policies benefiting the people, I hope they can be regularized and popularized..." A large number of netizens gave thumbs up and praised it.

In addition, from December 2018 to March 2019, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Ministry of Justice and the All China Lawyers Association also organized and carried out the 2018 "Respect and Abide by the Law, Join Hands to Build Dreams" public welfare legal service action for migrant workers. They formed a service team of "lawyer volunteers + trade union cadres" to carry out public welfare legal service actions for the vast number of migrant workers, achieving remarkable results.

Shouldering the brand-new mission bestowed by the new era, a large number of lawyers have actively responded to the call of the Party and the government, taken the initiative to act, and forged ahead with determination. They have made positive contributions to the economic and social development of the country and the happiness of people's lives, earning unanimous praise and recognition from all sectors of society.