More lawyers sought as government advisers

More lawyers will be encouraged to serve as legal advisers for government agencies to help ensure that officials' decisions are in line with the law, a senior official from the Ministry of Justice said.

"We have submitted a draft plan to authorities for review, and details will be released on a later date," Du Chun, director of the department of directing lawyers and notarization under the Justice Ministry, said last week.

As of last year, there were 23,500 lawyers hired to serve as legal advisers for government agencies at various levels, out of the 252,400 lawyers registered with the China Lawyers Association nationwide, according to the ministry.

In the next three years, China will ask provincial, city or county governments to add lawyers' fees to their budgets so they can work as counsels to help prevent official misconduct, Du said."Local authorities will include budgets in government procurement costs and sign contracts with law firms to engage qualified lawyers for legal services," he said.

A number of local governments have made illegal decisions or run afoul of the law in recent years, generating public mistrust of government. Related administrative lawsuits or petitions are also on the rise, said Zhang Jun, an officer from the ministry's directing lawyers and notarization department.

The legal advisers in government bodies will play larger roles to help officials "make important decisions according to law, facilitate project investment or negotiation, handle social problems, cope with emergencies, and involve due legal processes to increase government credibility and improve administrative efficiency", he said.

A typical case occurred last year when the Beijing Lawyers Association organized lawyers to submit legal suggestions to the Beijing municipal government for it to cope with emergencies and handle legal disputes arising from natural disasters, following major rainstorms that hit the city and killed 79 people in July 2012.

Many cities in North China's Hebei province, including Shijiazhuang, Baoding and Zhangjiakou, have budgeted funds to hire lawyers as legal advisers to government bodies.

In the past three years, lawyers nationwide have provided 510,000 cases of legal consultation for government agencies at multiple levels, presented 90,000 legal opinions and participated in 16,000 major research projects on legal issues, ministry figures show.

"If government leaders do not have a firm grasp of legal concepts when they are making important decisions, it's possible that serious problems might result," said Wang Yukai, vice-director of the China Society of Administrative Reform.

"The latest move to involve more lawyers in government to provide legal expertise will improve awareness of legal issues and avoid decisions that violate the law," he said.

Li Qi, a lawyer from the Beijing Lawyers Association, said that the priority is to improve officials' knowledge of legal concepts of county or town governments.

"In practice, some officials' awareness of legal issues is weak and they often abuse their power at the administrative level, causing public petitions and mass incidents," Li said.