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The deep divide in China’s criminal justice system: contrasting perceptions of lawyers and the iron triangle

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Abstract

China has witnessed significant changes in its criminal justice system in the last three decades. As one of the major components of criminal procedure reform, the (re)emergence of criminal defense lawyers (and their expanding roles) is among the most noteworthy. Nevertheless, research on criminal defense work in China continues to post serious questions about the effectiveness of criminal defense in the current Chinese legal system. Based on recent survey data from a diverse group of criminal justice practitioners in J province, China, this study examines how actual criminal defense practices are evaluated by defense attorneys themselves and by the dominant ‘iron triangle’ (i.e., the coalition of the court, the prosecution, and the police officials). Our empirical findings consistently reveal that the work of Chinese defense lawyers is grossly undervalued by the ‘iron triangle’. Chinese criminal defense lawyers concur readily with the ‘iron triangle’ that the effectiveness of their legal representation is questionable and that their work bears little substantive impact on the final outcomes of the criminal trials. Implications for future reforms and research are discussed.

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Notes

  1. One of the reviewers correctly pointed out that our data which was collected during 2009–2011 may not be representative of the context of new stipulations provided by the amendment of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law in 2012. Ongoing evaluations are certainly needed to assess the impact of the most recent changes.

  2. Reference of current Chinese criminal defense lawyers as “new comer” is made in the context of the lawyers’ expanded roles and increasingly autonomous professional status compared to their former role as state-employees (representing the best interest of the state instead of their clients). We would like to acknowledge the reviewer’s helpful suggestion for this clarification.

  3. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation for funding the pilot project. The points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Foundation.

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Correspondence to Ni Phil He.

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Liang, B., He, N.P. & Lu, H. The deep divide in China’s criminal justice system: contrasting perceptions of lawyers and the iron triangle. Crime Law Soc Change 62, 585–601 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-014-9545-3

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