The construction of a first-class rule-of-law city emphasizes the role of lawyers.
On February 19, 2014, Zhang Yong, President of the Municipal Lawyers Association, Vice Presidents Lin Xiaoqing and Zheng Degang, Councilors Ma Xueping, Xiao Hanmei, and Gu Donglin, and Supervisor Liu Jun visited the Municipal Government Legal Affairs Office. Wang Pu, Director of the Legal Affairs Office, Jiang Xiaowen, Head of the Coordination Division, Huang Xiangzhao, Head of the Document Review Division, Wang Jun, Deputy Head of the Legal Affairs Division, and Ding Minggao, Researcher at the Institute, received the delegation and held a discussion.
President Zhang Yong briefly introduced the recent work of the association: The Eighth Lawyers Association adheres to the work philosophy of balancing management and service, safeguarding lawyers' rights by purchasing critical illness insurance for all city lawyers and promoting the establishment of a "green channel" for lawyers; it issued and implemented the country's first operational code of professional ethics for lawyers—the "Shenzhen Lawyers Association Code of Professional Ethics"—to enhance the level of self-discipline in the legal profession and build a highly competitive lawyer team. President Zhang Yong stated that in the new era, to further implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee and unite more lawyers to better serve the construction of an excellent law-based city, he hopes the government will provide support and guidance in promoting government procurement of legal services and establishing a universal legal advisory system, thereby expanding development space for the legal profession.
The attending lawyers put forward the following suggestions regarding the government's purchase of legal services and the establishment of a universal legal advisory system: First, unify the standards for government procurement of legal services at the municipal and district levels, including designing standardized bidding rules for such services and unifying the subject matter amounts; second, raise awareness of government procurement of legal services, promote the establishment of legal advisory systems in governments at all levels and their departments, fully leverage the professional advantages of lawyers in major project construction, urban regional planning, and other areas, and form a synergy for building a sound rule-of-law city; third, follow market value orientation, include the purchase of legal services in the fiscal budget, and provide funding guarantees for improving the government procurement mechanism for legal services.
Director Wang Pu pointed out that the implementation of the country's first lawyer regulation—the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Lawyers Regulation"—has further promoted judicial fairness and, to some extent, advanced the revision of the Administrative Procedure Law. The history of the development of the legal profession in Shenzhen proves that lawyers are the elite of society, permeating all levels of social construction and development. They are a very important new force and an indispensable force that should be relied upon and can play a significant role in building a sound rule-of-law city.
The Municipal Government's Legislative Affairs Office places great importance on the role of lawyers and will actively promote the following tasks: First, list "further implementing the decisions of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee and promoting the universal establishment of a legal advisory system" as a key work item for the Legislative Affairs Office in 2014, and recommend that the government issue documents to promote the establishment of legal advisors in governments at all levels and their departments; second, when reviewing laws, regulations, and related documents, various departments of the Legislative Affairs Office will seek professional opinions from the Bar Association and lawyers, further improving the level of law-based and scientific decision-making by the government; third, plan to have the Bar Association recommend legal experts in fields such as finance, real estate, and corporate law, increase the proportion of lawyers in the expert database, and pool wisdom from multiple sources to serve the government. It is hoped that the Bar Association will lead its team well, unite the majority of lawyers to care about and support law-based administration and scientific government decision-making, and provide valuable opinions and suggestions on building a sound rule-of-law city and government.
