More Chinese Lawyers Assist Government Decisions

China's first group of legal consultants for a provincial government has significantly affected decision-making by making sure that all administrative activities follow the letter of the law.

Chen Fuxiang, an associate professor at the Law School of Changchun-based Jilin University, is one of the 15 legal consultants for northeast China's Jilin Provincial government. Chen, 43, and the rest of the lawyer team have marked a milestone in China in legal supervision of provincial-level government administration.

Sources with the local government said the consulting team has handled 100 legal cases assigned by the government and filed 62 legal position papers for government reference over the past year.

Before the lawyers came on board, Jilin government regulations were implemented without specific legal reference.

"We now have lawyers to help us improve our administrative decisions," said Wang Guofa, vice governor of Jilin Province.

Wang said that the Jilin government has decided to hold legal discussions over newly launched policies and administrative activities before making final decisions.

The consultants have filed a position paper for the local government of Jilin Province to terminate production of a chemical fertilizer that failed to pass anti-bacteria tests given by agriculture departments and may infect human beings and cattle.

Thanks to the legal opinions provided by the consulting team, the provincial government won its lawsuit to stop the fertilizer production.

At grassroots levels, legal consultants have been involved in various important government issues and consulted laws and regulations to better protect interests of the local governments and the safety of state-owned properties.

"It was quite unusual for a Chinese local government to invite legal assistance some ten years ago," said Du Zhaoqing, director of the Jilin Provincial Judicial Department.

To date, 70 governments above the county level in Jilin have formed their own legal consulting teams, according to Du.

And elsewhere in China, more and more Chinese local governments have set up consultation channels to get legal advice before making administrative decisions.

Statistics show that China now has some 110,000 lawyers and 9, 000 law firms.

Legal consultation has been expanded from the original criminal defense-oriented assistance to the current array of foreign trade, finance, securities and hi-tech industries.

Jia Wuguang, director of the Lawyer, Notary Steering Department with the Ministry of Justice, said that some 4,000 county and local governments across the country have formed legal consulting teams. Eight thousand local government officials have hired special legal counselors.

Resorting to legal assistance in government operations has become a trend in China, echoing the country's continuous efforts to govern the country according to law.

Vice Justice Minister Duan Zhengkun recently urged local governments in China to follow Jilin's practice of inviting representatives from legal think tanks to give suggestions for improving daily operations.

"It is very important to give lawyers a more active role in government decision-making," said Duan.






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