Procedures for foreign suspect to entrust lawyers

Procedures for foreign suspect to entrust lawyers

1、 Procedures for foreign suspect to entrust lawyers

If foreigners are suspected of criminal offences in China, Chinese laws shall apply, and suspect have the right to entrust defenders to defend. If lawyers are entrusted to defend, they should entrust Chinese practicing lawyers. Lawyers from other countries should not accept the entrustment of criminal defense activities in China.

Foreigners are suspected of criminal crimes in China. If they are ordinary criminal cases, the embassies and consulates of their host countries are generally unwilling to hire defense lawyers in the name of the embassies and consulates. Although the suspect has the right to entrust a defense lawyer, because the suspect has usually been taken criminal coercive measures, the suspect's entrusted defense lawyer cannot operate under the existing judicial environment. In judicial practice, when lawyers meet with suspects, they need to show relevant materials that have been legally entrusted to the custody authority. Therefore, it is still the first choice for the suspect's guardian or close relatives to entrust him.

However, compared with non-foreign-related criminal cases, this scheme still has various inconveniences in foreign criminal cases. First, the suspect's guardian or close relatives are usually abroad, and it is impossible to entrust defense counsel for the suspect in time; Second, the notarization and authentication of the entrustment materials such as the power of attorney and the certificate of kinship need a certain amount of processing time; Third, it also takes some time to mail the entrusted materials from abroad. This makes it impossible for foreign suspects to obtain the help of lawyers in time, and affects the exercise of their right to defense. In practice, most detention centers still strictly abide by the above requirements, but there are also detention centers that provide certain convenience for lawyers to meet foreign suspects. For example, the power of attorney has stated the kinship between the client and the suspect and has been notarized by the notary office in the host country, and no longer requires the authentication of the foreign diplomatic office and the authentication of the Chinese embassy and consulate in the country.

Procedures for foreign suspect to entrust lawyers

2、 What should lawyers pay attention to

1. We should carefully check the lawyer's practice certificate to see whether it is true or not.

2. Entrust professional lawyers.

3. Smooth language communication.

4. Handle the entrustment formalities and sign the entrustment contract.

5. Issue power of attorney.

6. Entrust online as much as possible, and express to avoid wasting your time, energy, and money in the east and west, while improving efficiency. 

7. Take copies of your identity information, such as ID card, residence certificate, marriage certificate, household register, etc., and keep the original copy to avoid loss. Different cases have different requirements, and you should consult a lawyer before you entrust.

3、 Whether the defense lawyer can contact the witness in criminal cases

It is not allowed to contact the witness privately in court to avoid threatening or luring the witness to give false testimony, but in court, with the permission of the judge, the defense lawyer can ask the witness questions.

Article 61 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the testimony of a witness must be cross-examined and verified by the public prosecutor, the victim, the defendant and the defender in the court before it can be used as the basis for deciding a case. When the court finds out that a witness intentionally gives false testimony or conceals criminal evidence, it shall deal with it according to law.

Article 62 Anyone who knows the situation of a case has the obligation to testify.

A person who is physically or mentally defective or young, unable to distinguish between right and wrong, or unable to correctly express himself, is not a witness.

Article 63 People's courts, people's procuratorates and public security organs shall ensure the safety of witnesses and their close relatives.

Those who threaten, insult, beat or retaliate against the witness and his close relatives, if the case constitutes a crime, shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; If it is not serious enough for criminal punishment, administrative punishment for public security shall be imposed according to law.

I believe you should know more or less after reading the above introduction that Chinese laws are applicable to foreigners who are suspected of criminal crimes in China, and suspect have the right to entrust defenders to defend in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of China. The above is the relevant content about the procedures for foreign suspect to entrust lawyers,  I hope I can help you.