Over 600 detainees at a detention house in Xiangshan county, Zhejiang Province, are about to transfer to a new detention house in September, 2010 . Photo: IC

A flood of defense lawyers have visited their clients in Beijing detention houses since Friday, taking advantage of the expansive new Criminal Procedure Law that took effect from January 1 allowing  them to meet clients without permission from police and prosecutors.

Before the new law took effect, lawyers sometimes could not meet with their clients while the cases were under investigation, and police could listen in on conversations they had preparing their defense.

But in a sign of change, some 137 lawyers successfully met with their clients on Friday at four large detention houses in Beijing: No.1 and No.3 detention houses and the detention houses of Chaoyang district and Haidian district, the Beijing prison and detention houses management corps said Monday.

"In the past, when I wanted to meet with my clients, I had to get permits from local public security departments or judiciary departments to verify me as their defense lawyer," Lu Yingzhong, a defense lawyer from the Beijing-based Dada Law Firm told the Global Times Monday. In some cases, Lu could not meet with his clients, because he could not get the permits.

Under the new rules, police can only listen in on exceptional cases, and lawyers have access to all of their clients' files as soon as police finish their investigation and will then be handed over documents to start building their defendants' cases.  

Zhao Yuntao, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongrun Law Firm, said it is a positive move.

"When lawyers can know their clients' cases clearly at an early stage, they can help prosecutors to identify evidence, and also give suggestions, such as whether to refer the case to court or not," he told the Global Times.

On Friday, at the detention house of Shunyi district, Lu met with a client whose case was still under investigation, and on Monday he went to the detention house in Chaoyang district to meet another client whose case is in the trial phase. He said the new procedures are working smoothly.

"At first, I wasn't sure whether I could meet my client while the case is still under investigation," Lu said.

"But the facts show that the new rules are effective," he noted.

More lawyers have been visiting their clients since the new rules took effect, a police officer surnamed Ma from the Chaoyang detention house told the Global Times.

The new rules stipulate that lawyers only need to take their certificates and a letter from their client to the detention houses, and a meeting will be arranged within 48 hours.

Lu confirmed to the Global Times that during his two visits, no police officers escorted him to the meeting places and none appeared during the meetings to listen in.

However, the police are still allowed to sit in on meetings with clients in some cases, he noted.

"The new rules stipulate that for a small number of heinous crimes, police should be present," said Lu.

According to an anonymous female police officer from the municipal management corps of detention houses, municipal authorities will take measures to accommodate the increasing number of meetings between lawyers and clients, such as building more meeting rooms.

"We have measures to help lawyers to meet their clients, and we know there are many lawyers meeting their clients these days," she said.

Since the law has just come into force, Lu and Zhao have not had a chance to try to get documents from prosecutors yet. Other more far-reaching aspects of the broad new law, such as a ban on self incrimination, and rules that confessions from torture are illegal, have yet to be tested.