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O 011133Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7288
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 010900 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR WILDER 
DEPT FOR DRL, L AND EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2031 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KJUS PINR CH
SUBJECT: NEW RULES FOR RIGHTS DEFENSE LAWYERS 
 
REF: A. BEIJING 1303 
     ¶B. BEIJING 6612 
 
Classified By: Classified by Acting Internal Political Unit Chief 
Susan Thornton.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The All-China Lawyers Association 
(ACLA) has issued a "Guiding Opinion on Lawyers 
Handling Mass Cases" that calls for lawyers in 
"collective" and "major sensitive" cases to "accept 
the monitoring and guidance" of judicial agencies. 
The Opinion discourages lawyers from participating in 
non-litigation activities and notes that they should 
approach the media and foreign organizations 
"cautiously."  Clearly meant as a warning to public 
interest lawyers and those willing to press the cases 
of activists, it is unclear at this point what the 
impact of the guidance will be.  It appears, however, 
that the leadership's concerns over the potential for 
intellectuals to team up with disaffected groups and 
threaten social stability are at the core of the new 
rules.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 15, the ACLA published a "Guiding 
Opinion on Lawyers Handling Mass Cases" providing that 
lawyers who take on such cases should report the cases 
to government officials through their bar associations 
and "accept the monitoring and guidance of judicial 
administration agencies."  The opinion applies to both 
"collective cases," defined as those involving ten or 
more people, and "major sensitive cases," which are 
not defined in the opinion.  Lawyers are banned from 
supporting "petitioning" and other activities that 
disturb the normal work of state organs or that 
disturb social order.  They are also cautioned against 
participating in non-litigation activities and told to 
approach the media and foreign organizations 
"cautiously."  The notice requires lawyers to work 
with local authorities to resolve disputes and to 
notify judicial authorities if they identify problems 
that might "intensify" disputes.  Violations may 
result in professional sanctions. 
 
ACLA Efforts to Improve MOJ Draft 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Beijing defense attorney Mo Shaoping, who is a 
member of the ACLA Criminal Defense Committee, said 
ACLA members were called to meetings in March by 
Ministry of Justice officials and presented with a 
draft of the new guidance to be issued by the ACLA. 
According to Mo, ACLA debated the text and made some 
marginal improvements, but felt it had no choice other 
than to issue the guidance.  Mo interpreted the new 
guidance as an attempt to warn attorneys to steer away 
from sensitive social issues, especially those 
involving land and petitioners.  As an example, Mo 
pointed to efforts by private oilfield owners in 
Shaanxi Province to gain compensation for their wells 
that were confiscated by local government (ref A). 
The attorney who organized the private owners, Mo's 
former employee Zhu Jihu, was jailed for several 
months last year on charges of illegal assembly after 
meeting with his petitioner clients. 
 
¶4. (C) ACLA Human Rights and Constitutional Law 
Committee Chairman Wu Ge said that ACLA attorneys 
tried to make something positive out of the bad draft 
rule that was presented to them by MOJ.  He and other 
attorneys submitted comments successfully modifying 
parts of the rule to affirm lawyers' duties to take on 
pro bono cases, including the defense of lawyers 
jailed in the line of duty.  But he acknowledged that 
the rule will make it much more difficult to pursue 
cases, especially in provinces outside of Beijing, 
where cooperation with local authorities is mandated. 
Attorney Wang Li of Shenyang's Tong Yang Law Firm 
said, however, that his law firm will continue to do 
pro bono work after the rule takes effect, but that it 
has always done so mindful of the need to keep 
authorities informed and to be wary of the social 
implications of such work. 
 
¶5. (C) Well-known Shanghai criminal lawyer Liao 
Xiaohua told Consulate Rule of Law Coordinator that 
the guideline was actually helpful, as it clarified 
what kinds of cases were "safe."  He predicted that 
this would encourage his firm to take on more 
collective litigation cases, as it would reduce the 
 
BEIJING 00010900  002 OF 002 
 
 
scope for interference from the Shanghai Municipal 
Government.  Nanjing Intermediate Court Civil 
Litigation Section Chief Judge Yao Zhijian said the 
guideline wouldn,t have a major impact on his court, 
as the court already treats cases involving multiple 
parties separately, both to avoid scrutiny and to get 
credit for handling a large number of cases.  Fudan 
University Law Professor Zhang Wusheng said many 
lawyers in Shanghai use the same approach. 
 
ABA Sees Opinion Discouraging Collective Cases 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (C) Allison Moore, representative of the American 
Bar Association in Beijing, said the rule could 
potentially inhibit "social impact" litigation.  The 
rule's origin came from complaints by local bar 
associations and provincial justice bureaus that they 
could not control Beijing attorneys filing public 
interest cases in their areas, Moore said.  Some 
officials complained that "management of attorneys 
needed to be strengthened" to prevent embarrassment 
for local officials. 
 
¶7. (C) Two provisions of the rule in particular will 
be especially limiting for public interest attorneys, 
Moore predicted.  First, environmental litigator Wang 
Canfa told Moore that the rule will likely restrict 
the ability of Beijing and Shanghai lawyers to file 
cases in provincial areas.  Most anti-pollution 
litigation that Wang's Center for the Victims of 
Pollution handles is now done in ad hoc partnership 
with individual local attorneys, Wang explained.  The 
new rule requires that three lawyers sign off and take 
responsibility for any group case filed in their 
areas, including three partners in a single law firm. 
This provision will make it harder for the Beijing 
attorneys with special expertise to convince local 
attorneys to take on cases that might irritate local 
officials, Wang predicted. 
 
¶8. (C) Second, by limiting contact with the media and 
restricting other "non-litigation tactics," the rule 
makes it increasingly unlikely that social problems 
will be resolved through litigation.  Most attorneys 
filing lawsuits to address social issues recognize 
that victory in court is quite unlikely, Moore said. 
Rather, many class-action lawsuits are filed to raise 
attention to social problems in the media and with 
Central Government officials.  By restricting the 
ability of lawyers to gain media attention and 
generate concern in Beijing about local problems, the 
rule will make litigation a less effective tool and, 
instead, will help local officials cover up 
embarrassing situations, Moore said.  She noted that 
her opinions on the new rule were informed by talks 
with public interest attorneys handling criminal 
defense, environmental and women's and children's 
cases. 
 
¶9. (C) Comment:  The Opinion is clearly meant as a 
warning to or check on public interest lawyers and the 
"rights defense movement" (Ref B), whose leaders 
include many Beijing rights attorneys.  These lawyers 
have, over the past three years, challenged government 
officials by raising a series of high-profile cases 
addressing issues such as censorship, criminal 
detention and rural issues.  While the implementation 
and potential effects of the Opinion are not yet 
clear, the leadership's concerns about the potential 
for intellectuals to team up with disaffected groups 
and disrupt social stability will likely mean 
continuing difficulties for rights defenders. 
RANDT