Lawyers Should Not Have to “Serve the Overall Situation ” (Excerpt)

• Author: Wang Jianxiong

Lin Yujun, the newly-appointed chief of Chongqing Municipal Justice Bureau, said on December 18, “Chongqing’s lawyers must consider the overall situation ” and “Chongqing lawyers need to increase their sense for politics, sense for the overall situation, and sense of responsibility.”

According to the Law on Lawyers, lawyers are persons who “accept authorization or appointment to provide legal services for a client.” The responsibility of a lawyer is to “maintain the legal rights and interests of a client, maintain the correct enforcement of law, and maintain social fairness and justice.” Here, the positioning of the lawyer is clear: they are not “service providers for political needs.” They only need to “observe the Constitution and laws and adhere to professional ethics and...