Kelly McCarthy

IBJ China Seeks to Improve Defense Strategies for Accused Women & Girls

IBJ China Training Brochure

Domestic violence is, unfortunately, not a new or uncommon problem in China, but the issue has gained unprecedented social attention over the past few years. In June 2014, China’s Supreme Court issued a landmark decision, overturning the death sentence of a woman convicted of killing her husband after suffering years of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. That same month, IBJ China hosted a training symposium in Fujian Provence, focusing on improving defense strategies for accused girls and women who are also victims of abuse. Additionally, the training promoted a better understanding of the opportunities for women in the criminal justice system. Those who participated in the training at the IBJ’s Xiamen FAIR  responded to the lecture series and discussion topics with keen interest. Nearly all the 70 attending justice professionals reported that the training was closely related to their work, and all surveyed respondents said they would implement the information and skills learned during the training into their practice.

In a follow-up of this recent training, the majority of participants reported a lasting change in the way they think about and approach cases involving domestic violence. Several reported having developed a much stronger interest in understanding the underlying reasons for the defendant’s behavior, and in building an analysis and defense from these reasons. Changes like this in the approach to domestic violence cases are a welcome and positive indicator of future change in the Chinese criminal justice system.

It is of utmost importance that Chinese criminal defense professionals continue to gain exposure to gendered advocacy strategies in order to improve the treatment of female accused. Increasing awareness about women’s rights and confronting gender discrimination against females within all parts of the justice sector are of paramount concern in Chinese society today.

This training symposium is a part of the FAIR (Female Accused Improved Representation) project initiative.

growth as a defense lawyer”

Chinese Lawyer Ge Chunrong

Although IBJ’s Defender Resource Center in Northwest China has only been operating for three years, there have already been notable improvements in the quality of representation and the confidence of criminal defense attorneys who have attended IBJ trainings. One attorney shared her gratitude toward IBJ in a six-page letter, which bore the heading: “IBJ, my mentor and friend in my growth as a defense lawyer; thank you for all your help.”

In the letter, Ge Chunrong detailed her history as an attorney. She began practicing law in 2001 and in 2005 began volunteering with the Shaanxi Women’s Federation to serve those in need. The problem, she explained, was that at the time she began, there was a lack of skills trainings. Lawyers like her were ill-equipped to properly defend their clients. This changed three years ago when Ge met IBJ. She has since attended 10 IBJ trainings and workshops. In her words, “The defense skills and ideology IBJ passed to me revitalized me and broadened my way of thinking,” helping her to achieve positive results in many of her cases.

Ge’s letter listed in detail the skills that IBJ has imparted to her, including respect for clients, client interviewing techniques, and how to investigate client backgrounds in order to apply for bail. She further praised IBJ for bringing together all judicial stakeholders to bring about change: “IBJ sets up bridges for all sections of judicial departments and builds platforms for the Public Security Bureau, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers to sit together to communicate and promote the mutual understanding and support of each other. Communication is the best way to solve problems.”

Finally, Ge described how she recently defended a death penalty case successfully, using the skills she learned from IBJ. A young man was charged with intentional murder of his father. Ge took the case from the District Court all the way to the Supreme People’s Court, tirelessly gathering evidence and fighting for her client. Several times, the client lost hope and wanted to end his life, but Ge gave him courage. In the end, she was able to prove that the death had been an accident, thus sparing her client execution. She said, “IBJ’s trainings not only gave me the skills to use, but also gave me the spirit of persistence to fight for the interests of my clients.”

Ge Chunrong is one of many legal professionals trained by International Bridges to Justice in China. Your continued support, especially at this time, is what allows us to continue trainings, provide legal aid, and host rights awareness events. Please consider making a donation to support future criminal defense lawyers, and all who they service, through this link. Thank you for your generosity.

IBJ maintains three offices in China, the National Defender Resource Center (NDRC) in Beijing, the Southeast Defender Resource Center (SEDRC) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and the Northwest Defender Resource Center (NWDRC) in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Currently operating with a total of eight staff covering the three offices, IBJ China’s programming reaches every province and autonomous region with its live and online trainings, rights awareness campaigns, community building activities, and pilot projects in local districts all aimed to improve the rights of the accused and build a fair and functioning criminal justice system.

From the period of January 2014 through September 2014:

• training 421 legal professionals, securing early access to counsel for 186 accused
• 444 individuals through roundtables and other community building events
• distributing rights awareness materials to 72 migrant workers and their children
• publishing 9 online learning modules on advanced topics in criminal defense

Highlights of our programming during this timeframe include activities held under three major multi-year projects, namely: the China Defender Resource Center Project, the China Defending Marginalized Populations Project, and the Next Generation Chinese Rights Defenders Project.  Your donations made this possible. Please click here to donate and be part of their transformative work.

IBJ has been working alongside government institutions and members of the criminal justice community to generate sustainable reforms. IBJ supports an emerging class of legal aid attorneys and is contributing towards the development of a rights-based approach in China’s criminal justice system.

China still only has a total of 200,000 lawyers for a population of more than 1.3 billion. Furthermore, the practice of criminal defense law is often regarded as a high-risk profession. As a result, an exceptionally large number of criminal defendants remain unrepresented at trial.

IBJ is continuing to work in three directions to create a functioning legal aid system:

• Launching the Defender Empowerment Series to produce a sustainable, self-generating network of skilled lawyers and legal skills trainers, using the train-the-trainer approach
• Expand its efforts to promote a pro bono legal culture in Chinese law firms
• Roll out three additional pilot juvenile justice projects to emphasize early access to counsel in juvenile cases

This is why we are calling for your donations to IBJ China this week. Over the last year, IBJ in China has helped make access to counsel a reality for hundreds of vulnerable defendants. Our China program helps the most marginalized in society, making sure victims of domestic violence receive a fair trial, improving access to justice and raising the dignity of suspects with disabilities, and providing rights awareness for migrant workers, minority populations, and children of the incarcerated. We thank you for your continued support.

For more on IBJ China:

http://www.ibj.org/where-we-work/china/

http://www.ibj.org/meet-ibj/our-team/team-china/

http://www.ibj.org/category/programs/china/

Jasmine Wang

From June to October 2013, IBJ China held its pilot Series of Training (SoT) in Beijing under its Defender Empowerment Series (DES) project. The SoT is a program of eight training sessions spread over four months aimed specifically at young lawyers just beginning a career in criminal defense. Potential applicants were expected to have passed the bar exam, to have worked less than three years in criminal justice, and a commitment to taking legal aid cases. Applications were submitted from across China and eventually 40 promising lawyers were selected to participate; many had to travel by air or overnight train just to attend the trainings.

 A major draw for the participating lawyers was the opportunity to learn from the DES Trainers, all of whom were invited for their specific expertise. These DES Trainers themselves had participated in a weeklong IBJ training focused on fostering highly interactive, case-based teaching methods. In addition, their experience in the field of criminal justice allowed them to provide participants with extremely practical and immediately useful skills.

Lawyer Meng was an SoT participant who described how fortunate he felt for joining the program when he was still in the middle of his apprenticeship, “[As an apprentice]… I had an enormous caseload and there was a risk for the work to become mindless. Copying case reports word for word into my own notes, meeting clients and taking notes verbatim—I could easily lose focus of my work. Suddenly, after beginning the SoT, I was excited to put new skills I had learned directly into practice. It substantively helped to improve the way I take cases now.”

For Meng, the most useful skills he acquired were the ones directly related to his daily tasks—no detail was too small. As there is no standardized style guide yet in China, he specifically expressed gratitude to Trainer Zhang who taught him the exact font, text size, spacing between paragraphs and effective wording to use when compiling a defense submission for the court.

Meng states, “I learned to create a note-taking system for interviewing clients that ensured I would ask for the key points necessary to build my case and to establish trust with my clients. For evidence, I now use the Diagram Analysis Method that Trainer Zhang taught me that has added enormous credibility to my submissions.”

Recently, in a case where the client was arrested for fraud, Meng made use the Diagram Analysis Method and tabulated each piece of evidence while providing an objective summary of its relationship to the case and its monetary value. This thorough analysis of evidence and the defense’s valuation of the accused’s crime was quickly accepted by the prosecution. According to Meng, “…the prosecution could tell that our work was of high-quality and it helped build their trust in us. Because of this, they supported our argument that the client had surrendered—a mitigating factor for the sentencing—and submitted a more lenient opinion to the court.”

In the year since attending SoT, Meng finished is apprenticeship and his career has made great strides. Along with his associate Lawyer Ma—also an SoT participant—in July 2014 Meng launched a pro bono clinic, “Criminal Legal Aid for the Weak,” serving vulnerable populations in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province. Meng states, “After watching my teachers give so much to me and helping me achieve a level of confidence in my work, I really wanted to use these skills and give back to the community around me.”

Beyond providing a highly interactive training, SoT focused itself on fostering community and a sense of solidarity between colleagues in the work of criminal justice. This past weekend, sixteen SoT lawyers reunited for a salon organized by IBJ and reflected upon the effectiveness of the trainings and how their own careers have progressed since then. SoT Trainer Yi remarked to his students, “As individual lawyers, we cannot do so much or accomplish what we want from our careers. It’s only as a community of collaborators that we can really tap our potential as criminal justice lawyers.”

With the feedback and response from the Beijing pilot, IBJ plans to expand SoT in 2015 to four new locations throughout China.

On June 26, 2014, the IBJ China Program office in Beijing hosted an interfaith vigil event for the purpose of sending the message to end torture worldwide.  During the vigil, prayers and sermons from various faiths were recited by employees and interns at the IBJ, which included messages from the Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist communities.  Each prayer or sermon contained a theme of ending torture and promoted peace and healing.

IBJ’s Beijing staff at the Beijing Bell Tower

The IBJ China team posted IBJ banners in our office during the vigil and also lit incense on an altar at the office.  After the vigil, the IBJ team went to various locations around Beijing to take additional photos with the IBJ Vigil banners, including the famous Drum Tower in Guloudajie, the Bell Tower in Guloudajie, and the Bird’s Nest site in the Beijing Olympic Center.

IBJ’s China staff at their office in Beijing

What made this event so worthwhile was that it gave the IBJ China office a chance to step back and reflect on the IBJ’s short-term and long-term goals in the aspect of torture.  We were reminded of Karen Tse’s message for why this is such an important and meaningful cause, and her experiences are a significant driving force behind the IBJ’s projects.  This vigil demonstrated how people of different faiths and different cultures could unite in achieving the same peaceful resolution, and that message was truly inspiring to me.

IBJ’s team at Bell & Drum towers in Beijing, China

After reciting the prayers and messages from different faiths during the vigil, I was reminded of the significance and value of the IBJ’s work around the world, and I felt further motivated to contribute to the IBJ in any way that I can.  I truly hope that other IBJ workers and volunteers around the world were as affected by this vigil in the same way that I was.  No matter what our faiths or backgrounds are, we can all work together in achieving our goals if we continue to stay motivated and remain persistent.  For all these reasons, the vigil was a great success and I am truly grateful for having this experience with my IBJ team!

Her journey from factory employee to criminal defense attorney was not always easy. But, she tells IBJ staff, along the way she learned to be “very serious, brave, and perseverant.” Despite challenges, her career of helping the needy brings her great fulfillment. Looking back on it all now, Wu does not regret her choice and advises young lawyers to remember “social responsibility should outweigh financial interests.”

This past summer, Wu became involved in IBJ’s early access to counsel project. For her first IBJ case, she handled robbery charges against an indigent, physically disabled defendant. The client had been involved in a business deal, but his partner had not paid him. He and a friend sought payment from the partner and detained the partner for several hours. The partner reported the incident to police and the client then voluntarily surrendered himself. The client was charged with robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. Wu became involved in his case at the early police investigation stage. Not content to simply accept the charges as filed, she conducted her own investigation including several thorough client interviews. This led her to realize the facts supported only the reduced charge of illegal detention, not robbery, because the money in question lawfully belonged to her client. She pointed out these facts, and also argued for a mitigated sentence based on her client’s voluntary surrender. As a result of her diligent defense, her client was given a sentence of just six months for the lesser charge. This beneficially impacted not only her client, but his family, who relied on his financial support. On his release, the client, his wife, his son, and his sister visited Wu’s law office to display a silk banner showing their gratitude and praising her efforts. Without her, he would still be in jail for robbery, a crime he didn’t commit. Instead, he told her he had recently purchased a small motorbike in order to earn a stable living. He told Wu that because of her help, he now had hope for the future.

IBJ supports defenders by holding roundtable events for legal professionals, such as this lawyers salon attended by Ms. Wu in September 2013. As of Oct. 31st, 2013, over 2,696 justice sector professionals have attended IBJ lawyers’ salons and roundtables across China.

Wu realized the power of her client’s story – the power to illustrate the profound difference a lawyer can make in the lives of a defendant and his family – and decided to share it (with identifying details omitted) with young lawyers participating in an IBJ Lawyer’s Salon. During the event, she also explained the practical and ethical lessons she had learned through her career in defense. She instructed young lawyers to first, be responsible and reliable. In doing criminal legal aid cases, lawyers should aim at providing quality representation for clients by preparing for and presenting the case to the best of the defender’s ability. Second, focus on details. Lawyers should pay attention to any detail that may affect the crime and sentence. Lawyers should also pay attention to any valid and true argument or fact that could strengthen a client’s case. And lawyers should render a thorough and competent defense of the client regardless of personal opinions about the client’s guilt or innocence. Third, lawyers should be active in every stage of the case, especially in legal aid cases when the client is often too disadvantaged to protect themselves against a neglectful lawyer who mishandles the case. Wu emphasized to the young lawyers that they are not working for the government in legal aid cases. Instead they should remember they are working for the client, the one who truly needs legal aid.

These young lawyers were greatly affected. One wrote in a survey response, “Before I did not want to do criminal cases, because I cannot earn much money from doing criminal cases and will spend a great deal of time. But I may have ignored the happiness of really saving a defendant’s life and changing his life, especially in legal aid cases.” The young lawyers also told IBJ staff that this event increased their sense of identity, not just as lawyers, but as defense lawyers. These responses motivated Wu to pursue even more opportunities to reach out to young lawyers.

In September, Wu attended a week-long Training of Trainers event held by IBJ in Beijing. She and sixteen other senior legal professionals were selected as IBJ’s new DES trainers. At the event, experienced trainers, international experts, and IBJ staff trained Wu and others to plan and present their own effective training events for defense lawyers. They learned the IBJ method of incorporating interactive techniques which enable students to learn by doing. Wu says she “learned not only skills but also very interesting training methods,” and was “deeply impressed.” She felt “[t]he interactive training method was very inspiring” and drafted a plan to hold at least two training sessions of her own in the coming year.

Each year, IBJ trains experienced practitioners and legal professionals, such as Ms. Wu, to host their own interactive training events. This past fall, IBJ welcomed another 12 trainers to the team at our third annual DES Training of Trainers event in Beijing

Never one to delay, Wu led her first training as an IBJ DES trainer just a few weeks later. Over 50 lawyers from 13 different law firms attended. A majority of attendees were young lawyers, and almost half lacked any experience with criminal defense cases. Wu led a lecture on client interviewing techniques and then facilitated participants in a moot court activity to practice their new skills. Although it was Wu’s first IBJ training, every single attending lawyer rated her session “good” or “excellent” on training content, training style, and relevance of learned skills to their future practice. In addition to learning practical skills, many lawyers told IBJ staff they were moved by Wu’s dedication to her clients. In response to Wu’s training, one lawyer reconsidered his treatment of legal aid defendants and told IBJ staff he would strive to be patient and kind with his clients in the future.

With support from IBJ, Wu has exceeded her goal of earning the respect of her clients, her students, and the legal community; she has motivated others to improve their own lives. This fall, the local Bureau of Justice recognized her accomplishments and honored her with the award for “Best Legal Aid Lawyer.”

Wu says even though she has little money, she feels rich in her heart.

Twenty-six year old Lian is an indigent farmer from a rural village in Sichuan Province. His wife recently delivered a son, whom Lian must support, not an easy task with his junior high school education. Given his young family and the seriousness of the charges, his arrest was nothing short of calamitous.

In addition, although the law permits legal aid, more than 80% of China’s criminally accused have no help from a lawyer. This is in part because attorneys are concentrated in major cities; lawyers in rural areas are scarce. It is also because many indigent defendants cannot afford to pay a lawyer; free legal aid is even scarcer.

Lian did his best to cooperate. He underwent mandatory detoxification to get sober. He confessed to possessing the methamphetamine. But without a legal advocate by his side, his chances of getting a fair trial were bleak.

Lian was fortunate. Earlier that year, IBJ orchestrated an agreement through which the prosecutor would refer indigent criminal defendants to a local law firm. Law firm attorneys trained by IBJ agreed to take these cases without charging the client. Under this program, Attorney Xi, whose name has been altered to protect her privacy, agreed to handle Lian’s case at no charge to Lian.

IBJ also hosts Lawyer’s Salons and roundtable discussion groups to enable defense lawyers like Xi to share best practices, brainstorm case strategies, and learn from one another. By Oct. 31st, 2013, over 2,696 justice sector professionals had participated in IBJ-China salon and roundtable events.

Using case investigation and advocacy skills taught at IBJ training events, Xi scoured the case file to make sure she understood all facts thoroughly. She realized the evidence was lacking. The crime of trafficking required intent to sell. No facts in the case showed such intent. She argued to the prosecutor that based on the evidence, Lian could not be charged with trafficking, but merely with possession, a much less serious charge. Lian had been an addict who needed help, yes, but nothing supported the accusation that he was a smuggler or dealer. The prosecutor took a second look, a closer look, at the case and realized she was right. He sent the case back to the police for further investigation. Later, the police re-submitted the case to the prosecutor with the lesser charge of narcotics possession.

Already, Xi’s advocacy had had a major impact on Lian’s life, but she wasn’t done yet. At the sentencing hearing for the possession charge, Xi argued there were several mitigating factors concerning the case, and about Lian as a person. Under Chinese law, the crime of drug possession for one’s own consumption is categorizes as a low societal impact crime, as compared to other offenses such as trafficking or crimes of serious violence. Moreover, Lian is a hard worker. He takes his social and financial responsibilities to his family seriously. Furthermore, he is a first time offender. These factors, she argued, required a reduced sentence under Chinese law. Again Xi’s no-nonsense, fact -based advocacy earned results. The judge adopted her opinion and sentenced Lian to a mitigated sentence of three years in jail.

Three years is a long time, but compared to the high stakes, and the might-have-beens without Attorney Xi by his side, Lian says he is very grateful to his lawyer for her help. Because of her, he received a fair trial. He faced only those charges which the facts genuinely supported, and no more. His situation was fully described to the court. His lawyer successfully conveyed he is a person, who has made mistakes, but who has a future. A lesser sentence resulted. Now Lian knows when his young son is three or four years old, he will be there for him. Because of Attorney Xi, and the support of IBJ, he has a second chance to go home and be a father.

Awareness of legal rights in China, especially in the context of criminal justice, is largely uncharted. Thus any progress, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is valuable if only to discover one’s pitfalls. As the famous Chinese proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. My colleagues and I, under the banner of IBJ, took one such step this summer at a colorful school in rural, northern Beijing.

Like all memorable journeys, this one was winding, at times difficult. This school’s children have the most special of needs: each child has at least one incarcerated parent, some for very serious offenses. It is because of this that the topic of a criminal suspect’s rights (especially to have an Appropriate Adult and defense lawyer present during questioning at a police station) is of the utmost importance—but also delicacy. Throughout our Rights Awareness campaign, we hoped to walk that thin line.

I believe we struck such a fine balance in, among other things, an interactive video. We translated otherwise complex, serious legal issues into simpler takeaways, and, best of all, in a medium well loved by kids. Legal research, scriptwriting, translating, haggling for props, directing, filming, editing—hours upon hours of work all came together for eight minutes of not quite Hollywood-level, but still wholly enjoyable video.

As for our other material, however, we learned on the eve of our presentation that, after three weeks of work, we would have to scrap most of it. Rather than waste time asking why, we—as a team—came to terms with this heavy blow, pulled ourselves together, and resumed our work late into the night; in other words, we adapted.

And we readapted the next day. Our large classroom had rows upon rows of chairs—along with a piano, foosball, and ballet equipment! But instead of the expected forty to sixty students aged seven to fourteen, only ten seven-year-olds filled the seats. Instead of a projector screen, we used a makeshift screen—a crayoned, off-white wall. And instead of an hour to teach, we had half of that. So, armed with nothing more than a video, a few prizes, and our wits, we played our hand the best we could with the cards we were dealt.

Ours is not an uncommon story. NGOs should be ready to reevaluate their plans and expectations—to adapt—at a moment’s notice, just as an experienced teacher responds to student difficulty or disinterest. I learned this lesson well as an English teacher in both China and Japan. As Bruce Lee said, “be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup; you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.”

At the end of the day, it is hard to know whether the kids will remember our lesson, or even our names. If they are ever, God forbid, in need of the information we presented, it is impossible to predict whether they will use it. It may exist as a slight glimmer in the back of their minds, or it may not. But what I do know for certain is that for thirty minutes they listened, laughed, interacted, and all this eagerly. For thirty minutes they were introduced to an organization and its people who wanted nothing more than to teach and care for them. Even a small girl in a bright red dress, silent throughout the lesson, was sad upon our goodbyes, wondering aloud when we would return.

For a journey that lasts one thousand miles, I can say that, thanks to IBJ and its wonderful staff, this first step was a successful one.

Contributed by John Aycock

IBJ China staff report the defendant was 17 years old at the time of the incident. His parents were divorced and he was under the guardianship of his father. His father was a migrant worker who lived in another province in order to seek employment. As a result, the juvenile lived with his grandparents in a suburb of town. His family was very poor and he was not well liked, well cared for, or properly supported by neighbors, classmates, teachers or his grandparents. Due to this lack of proper attention and education, young Bingwen frequently visited a local internet bar. He made adult friends there who were not a good influence in his life.

One night, after he and his adult friends left the internet bar, the adults saw a woman walking on the street alone. The adults went to talk and interact with the woman. Bingwen followed. The woman called for help, but the adults around Bingwen continued until two transportation police officers passed by. Bingwen and the adults ran away. The next day, the woman reported the incident to the police. The police investigated the internet bar and arrested Bingwen and his adult friends.

Prosecutors initially pursued charges of attempted rape against Bingwen and the group of adults involved in the incident. An attempted rape conviction potentially carries a lengthy jail sentence. However, IBJ’s partner lawyer was assigned to Bingwen’s case. She conducted extensive client interviews, and uncovered that several mitigating factors had not been accounted for: Bingwen had confessed to his involvement, he was merely an accessory to the crime of the adults present, and his family had made efforts to compensate the victim. Based on these factors, and in accordance with Chinese law, the defense attorney argued Bingwen was entitled to a mitigated sentence. Moreover, the juvenile had no intent to rape and no other evidence supported such a charge. The lawyer presented these facts to the prosecutor and later to the court. As a result of the lawyer’s efforts, the attempted rape charges were dropped and the juvenile ultimately received a mitigated sentence of 1 year in jail for the lesser crime of unlawful insult.

Bingwen, now in criminal detention, expressed appreciation that his defense attorney respected him as a person and did not simply accept the initial charges of the prosecution. He has plans to join his father and seek employment upon release, and intends to spread the word to others in his community about the valuable legal aid he received from IBJ partners.

IBJ China helps defenders like Bingwen’s lawyer to develop their advocacy skills through online training modules, in person training events, roundtable discussion events, and legal toolkits distributed across the country.