Editorial Note
This article is reprinted from Wechat official account of Xicheng Lawyers Association of Beijing, 20150422, Interview of Lv Liqiu.
Graduated from China University of Political Science and Law, Dr. Lv is senior partner of Guantao law firm. Since 2001, Dr. Lv has been practicing law, including participating in administrative legislation, serving as legal counsel for many government agencies and providing legal services on financial product design, capital securitization and PPP, accumulating extensive experience in administrative law, civil law, business law and finance law. Dr. Lv is also deputy director of Administrative Law Committee of All-China Lawyers Association, member of Administrative Law Studies Institute of China Law Society, member of Beijing Lawyers Association, director of Industry Rule Committee and guest professor of China University of Political Science and Law and Renmin University of China.
Q: This year is the first year of 13th Five Year Plan. From the economic perspective, how can lawyer work to strengthen economy and serve society?
Dr. Lv: serving economy and society with expertise is lawyer's mission and value. This year is the first year of 13th Five Year Plan. Legal professional should uphold value of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, follow great developing strategy, pinpoint economic focus of 13th Five Year Plan and play its unique role.
Lawyer can propose legal advice and support scientific decision-making through serving as legal counsel for government agencies. We can provide legal services on innovating macroeconomic regulation and control strategy, reinventing policy instrument, improving finance and monetary policy, etc. We can also provide legal services for enterprises on IP protection, capitalization and industrialization of technology innovations, international commercial cooperation and competition, etc.
We can also strengthen foreign-related legal services such as on anti-dumping, anti-trust, international M&A, international investment and commerce, supporting go global strategy and building of free trade zone. We can also expand new practice areas, such as urbanization and environment protection, participate in environmental lawsuit and environmental public litigation, providing legal services on energy conservation, carbon emission, emission right, water right trading, etc.
Q: from the perspective of legal justice, how can lawyers, together with public security organs, procuratorates and courts, safeguard social justice?
Dr. Lv: in our judicial process, court judges based on law, prosecutor supervises legal enforcement activities and examines prosecution based on law, and lawyer safeguards client’s legal interests based on fact and law. With any part missing or neglected, judicial process would be incomplete.
From the perspective of specific case, lawyers safeguard client’s legal interests and endeavor to get just ruling through legal representation. From the perspective of litigation, lawyer, judge and prosecutor should perform their respective duties to uphold rule of law and social justice together.
As indispensable members of legal community, lawyer, judge and prosecutor should perform their respective duties, respect each other, support each other, trust each other, supervise each other and communicate on an equal footing, together building a transparent, streamlined, cooperative and healthy professional relationship.
Lawyers should perform their duties of legal representation and defense based on facts and taking law as the criterion, while safeguarding client’s legal interests, lawyers should respect court jurisdiction and judicial officers, support client in safeguarding interest through legal method, support and supervise activities of judicial authorities, and endeavor to let people see justice and fairness in every judicial case.
Q: in the new circumstance, lawyers carry huge responsibilities. How can lawyers strengthen themselves and better carry our their mission in this new era of rule of law?
Dr. Lv: for every country with rule of law, it is essential to have lawyers perform their duties diligently and professionally. Their legal knowledge and independent identity make them essential to strengthen law-based administration, control and supervise state power, protect individual rights and build a law-abiding society.
With strategies of building the rule of law and deepening reform in an all-round way, government, enterprise and society at large have higher and more diversified legal requirements. Professionalism of legal services is unstoppable. This new circumstances poses huge challenge as well as precious opportunities for lawyers. Therefore, we should analyze this new situation and provide creative comprehensive legal solution for newly emerged issues.
For lawyers, good command of legal knowledge isn’t enough. We should also have professionalism and moral code. We should respect and abide by the law, practice law honestly and diligently, safeguard client’s legal interests and uphold legal justice.
