Xinhua News Agency, Beijing 6 Moon 16 Xinhua News Agency (Reporters Zou Wei and Wang Qian) — Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the System of Legal Advisors and the Systems of Public Servant Lawyers and Corporate Lawyers." Several experts pointed out that these Opinions represent an important step toward comprehensively governing the country according to law. Once implemented, they will further strengthen the building of teams of legal advisors, public servant lawyers, and corporate lawyers, clarify their duties, rights, and obligations, and fully leverage their crucial roles in institutional development and implementation, thereby better transforming institutional advantages across various fields into effective governance at both the national and societal levels.

According to the opinion, 2017 Before the end of the year, all ministries and commissions of the central and state organs, as well as Party and government agencies at or above the county level, will generally establish legal advisors and public-sector lawyers. Township Party committees and governments will set up legal advisors and public-sector lawyers as needed. State-owned enterprises will further advance the systems of legal advisors and in-house corporate lawyers. Public institutions will explore establishing legal advisory systems. By... 2020 By the end of the year, a Chinese-characteristic system of legal advisors, public lawyers, and corporate lawyers—aligned with economic and social development and the demand for legal services—will be fully established.

“This is of great significance for achieving the goal of building a government under the rule of law that is functionally scientific, with clearly defined powers and responsibilities, strictly enforcing the law, open and fair, clean and efficient, and committed to compliance with laws and integrity; for realizing the reform objectives of state-owned enterprises—focusing on standardizing business decision-making, preserving and enhancing asset value, ensuring fair participation in competition, improving efficiency and boosting vitality, and fulfilling social responsibilities; and for achieving the reform objectives of public institutions—characterized by clearly defined functions, improved governance, efficient operations, robust oversight, and a rational structure,” said Li Mingzheng, Director of the Government Legal System Research Center at the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council.

“Establishing a universal system of legal advisors” was a reform task set forth by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Party. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee further clarified: “We will actively promote the system of government legal advisors, building a team of legal advisors primarily composed of personnel from government legal institutions, while also drawing in experts and lawyers to ensure that legal advisors play an active role in formulating major administrative decisions and advancing administration according to law.”

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee also put forward requirements for promoting the system of public-sector lawyers and in-house corporate lawyers: "Party and government organs at all levels and people's organizations should generally establish public-sector lawyers, while enterprises may set up in-house corporate lawyers to participate in decision-making consultations, provide legal advice, promote law-based administration, and prevent legal risks."

Previously, China had already launched a pilot program for public-sector lawyers. Liu Fuhua, deputy director of the Legal Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and a public-sector lawyer, introduced that as one of the first pilot units for public-sector lawyers among central government agencies, since... 2004 Since [year], the CSRC has... 3 Batch total 500 Several regulatory officials have been approved by the Ministry of Justice to become public-sector lawyers.

“The public-duty lawyer system has been closely integrated with securities regulatory enforcement efforts, yielding positive results. Public-duty lawyers have been extensively involved in various tasks—including drafting and reviewing regulatory documents, signing foreign-related legal documents, providing advisory services for administrative decision-making, conducting daily supervision, carrying out inspections and enforcement actions, imposing administrative penalties, and handling reconsideration and litigation—playing a vital role in regulatory enforcement practice and becoming an important rule-of-law force in the supervision of securities and futures markets,” said Liu Fuhua.

The proposal suggests establishing a team of legal advisors composed primarily of personnel from the Party’s internal regulations bodies and government legal institutions, with the inclusion of legal experts and lawyers. It also clarifies that legal advisors in Party and government organs shall perform duties such as “providing legal advice on major decision-making and significant administrative actions.” 6 This responsibility includes stipulating that, prior to discussing or deciding on major matters, Party and government organs shall solicit legal opinions from legal advisors and public-sector lawyers. The opinion further clarifies that if significant losses or serious adverse effects are caused by violations of the above-mentioned provisions, the principal persons in charge of Party and government organs, other leading personnel bearing responsibility, and relevant persons accountable shall be held legally and regulatively responsible.

“To fully advance the rule of law, we must focus on the ‘critical few’—leading cadres,” said Li Mingzheng. Implementing the systems of legal advisors and in-house lawyers and corporate lawyers provides crucial support for leading cadres to make decisions and conduct affairs in accordance with the law. Leading cadres should not only set an exemplary example by respecting, studying, abiding by, and applying the law themselves, but also be adept at leveraging the advisory and assisting roles of legal advisors, in-house lawyers, and corporate lawyers. This will help them enhance their capacity for scientific, democratic, and lawful decision-making, as well as their ability to use rule-of-law thinking and methods to deepen reform, promote development, resolve conflicts, and maintain stability. Moreover, it will enable them to effectively supervise and restrain power, prevent abuse of authority, and forestall and eliminate all kinds of illegal and non-compliant activities.

Lü Hongbing, Vice President of the All China Lawyers Association, believes that the introduction and implementation of these guidelines have placed higher demands and clearer tasks on lawyers. “When serving as legal counsel to the government, lawyers should genuinely serve the principle of administration according to law, genuinely serve the public interest, and genuinely uphold fairness and justice. When serving as legal counsel to state-owned enterprises, the emphasis should be on preventing and resolving legal risks and promoting the company’s lawful operations. While acting as ‘service providers,’ lawyers must also effectively function as ‘gatekeepers.’”