(Originally published on 06/14/2016)

On the 14^th June, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ford Foundation convened the 2016 annual Rule of Law Roundtable, bringing together 39 representatives of 26 organizations from the international community, civil society organizations and academia for discussions around this year’s theme on the role of lawyers in judicial reform.

Since the release of the Lawyers Law in 1996, the legal profession has witnessed tremendous development, especially with regards to the professionalization and regulation of the industry. As the new round of judicial reform began to be implemented in the past two years, new changes have been proposed with regards to the supervision and self-regulation of lawyers, while other personnel reforms to judges and procurators may also have an impact on the profession. These changes were discussed by participants, who explored how new rules would be put into effect, the new challenges facing the legal profession, and their implication on achieving judicial independence.

“Lawyers play a crucial role in advancing rule of law and access to justice in China, which are central to achieving sustainable human development,” noted Agi Veres, Country Director of UNDP China as she opened the roundtable.

Ms. Veres also launched the 2014 and 2015 Annual Report on Judicial Reform in China, compiled by Professor Xu Xin and his team at the Beijing Institute of Technology School of Law. The reports provide a comprehensive analysis of the developments in judicial reform in the past two years, highlighting specific measures across different areas of the judiciary, the procuratorate, the judicial administration and the legal profession at large with reflections on the successes and challenges in their implementation, and offer an outline for the path forward.

At the roundtable speakers presented their analysis of the status and prospects of judicial reform in China and their impact on lawyers. Professor Xu Xin, professor of law at Beijing Institute of Technology gave an overview of the current round of judicial reform and the new regulations directed at the lawyers’ profession. Ms. Zhang Yansheng, senior lawyer at Beijing Dayu Law Firm and member of the All-China Lawyers Association Criminal Defense Committee, spoke about the importance of effective defense and discussed ethical questions facing the entire legal profession. Professor Lan Rongjie, professor of law at the South-western University of Finance and Economics Law School, gave an engaging presentation on lawyers using the Internet to promote judicial reform and the rule of law.

The roundtable gave all participants an opportunity to share their latest thinking on the recent developments of the lawyers’ profession in China and hear from experts in the field. The event aimed to bring together different viewpoints in order to better understand how development organizations and the international community can help support the development of the rule of law and judicial reform in China.