How Do I Become a Public Defender?

A defender is a person who accepts the entrustment of a party to prosecution or is appointed by a people's court to help criminal suspects and defendants exercise their right of defense in order to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. The defender can be a lawyer, a people's group, or a unit recommended by a criminal suspect or defendant, or a criminal suspect, defendant's guardian, relatives or friends. However, only lawyers can be appointed to defend. The defender has independent litigation status. He is neither subordinate to the criminal suspect or defendant, nor subordinate to the People's Procuratorate or People's Court. The defender's responsibility is to present materials and opinions that prove that the criminal suspect or defendant is not guilty, less guilty or mitigated or relieved of his criminal responsibility based on facts and laws, and to safeguard the legal rights of the criminal suspect or defendant.

Chinese name: defender
Foreign name: advocate

Helper: Criminal suspects and defendants
Function: Safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants
To source: Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

Defender Concept Interpretation

A defender is a person who accepts the commission of a criminal suspect or defendant or is appointed by a people's court to help the criminal suspect or defendant exercise his right of defense in order to safeguard his legitimate rights and interests. Article 32 of China's Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that in addition to exercising their right of defense, criminal suspects and defendants may also entrust one or two persons as defenders. That is, the criminal suspect and defendant can entrust up to two defenders. In a joint crime case, because there is an interest relationship between the criminal suspect and the defendant, a defender must not accept the commission of two or more criminal suspects or defendants in the same case as their co-defenders. The defender assumes the defense function together with the criminal suspect and the defendant in criminal proceedings. The defender shall actively confront the prosecution party with the prosecution function in accordance with the facts and laws, and shall submit materials and opinions on the allegations to prove that the suspect or defendant is not guilty, guilty or mitigated, and relieve his criminal responsibility, Fair judgment on a neutral basis. Therefore, it is of great significance to establish a defender defense system in criminal proceedings.

First of all, the defense system of defenders is of great significance to the promotion and protection of judicial justice and litigation democracy. The implementation of a defense system is conducive to the proper handling of cases by the judicial organs, preventing the subjective one-sidedness of the case-handling personnel, and making sure that both listen and understand, so as to avoid the occurrence of unjust, false or wrong cases.

Secondly, the defender defense system is conducive to the public security and judicial organs to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants. In criminal proceedings, because the suspect and the defendant are in a prosecuted position, and personal freedom is often restricted, it is impossible to fully understand the case and collect evidence in their favor, which makes it difficult to exercise. The right to self-defense; on the other hand, most of the suspects and defendants lack legal knowledge, do not know which litigation rights they have, how to exercise these rights, and do not understand the legal consequences of their actions. Therefore, most criminal suspects and defendants cannot properly use the law to defend themselves in order to protect their legitimate rights and interests. Defenders are mainly defense lawyers, who have both legal knowledge and extensive litigation rights, which facilitates a comprehensive and specific understanding of the case. At the same time, defense lawyers have rich defense experience and skilled litigation skills, which can help criminal suspects or defendants to exercise correctly. The right to defense in order to more effectively protect their legitimate rights and interests.

Finally, the defense system of defenders is conducive to better fulfilling the educational task of criminal proceedings. In the court, through the debate between the prosecution and the defense, the audience can fully understand the case, distinguish between right and wrong, and enhance the citizens' legal concept.

Basic characteristics of defenders

The defender's legal status in criminal proceedings is an independent participant in the proceedings, and he is a dedicated defender of the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants. The defender shares the defense function with the criminal suspect and the defendant. This litigation function is independent of the prosecution function and the trial function. The defender has the status of an independent litigation participant, defends according to his own will and according to law, performs his duties independently, and safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of the criminal suspect and the defendant. It is not affected by the opinions of the public prosecutor or the will of the criminal suspect or defendant. Left and right; neither can be the "second prosecutor", nor the spokesperson of the suspect or defendant. The defenders and the prosecutors who are indicted in court shall have equal litigation status. They shall obey the instructions of the court judges and perform their respective litigation functions in accordance with the law. No organ, group or individual shall interfere illegally. When the defender assumes the defense function, he takes facts as the basis and takes the law as the criterion. Its statutory duties are to be faithful to the facts of the case, respect objective evidence, and adhere to the truth. It can neither subjectively imagine, guess, or distort the facts in order to effectively safeguard the law. Seriousness.

As for the lawyer's litigation status during the investigation stage, there is a great deal of controversy in academic circles. Due to Article 36 of the Criminal Procedure Law: defense lawyers can provide legal assistance to criminal suspects during investigations; represent appeals and complaints; apply for changes to compulsory measures; learn from the investigating authorities about the suspects' crimes and the relevant circumstances of the case, and propose opinion. This article stipulates the activities of lawyers hired by criminal suspects, and does not clearly specify the litigation status of lawyers during the investigation stage. Therefore, theoretically and in practice, the names of lawyers during the investigation stage are: lawyers commissioned by criminal suspects, law Legal advisers, defenders, etc. to assist persons, legal helpers or criminal suspects. It is generally believed that the lawyer's litigation status during the investigation stage has not changed substantially, so it should still be appropriate to call him a defender of the criminal suspect, and other titles are not standardized. Defense lawyers are involved in criminal proceedings during the investigation stage, provide legal assistance to criminal suspects, and exercise their right to defense is a common practice in countries around the world. China's criminal procedure law should further expand the defense lawyers' litigation rights in this litigation stage, in order to fundamentally increase China's human rights protection in criminal proceedings.

Basic content of the defender

The main scope of a defender

(A) who can serve

According to Article 32 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the scope of a defender includes:

lawyer. A lawyer is a practitioner who has obtained legal qualifications in accordance with legal procedures and has been registered to provide legal services to society. Those who have obtained the qualifications of a lawyer but are not registered shall still not be authorized to act as defenders in the capacity of lawyers.

In addition, Article 11 of the Lawyers Law states that civil servants may not concurrently serve as practicing lawyers. Lawyers shall not practise while they are members of the standing committees of the people's congresses at all levels. At the same time, Article 41 of the Law stipulates that lawyers who have served as judges and prosecutors shall not serve as litigation agents or defenders within two years after leaving the people's court and people's procuratorate. Article 32 of the Criminal Procedure Law: In addition to lawyers: there are people recommended by the people's organization or the suspect, the defendant's unit; the suspect, the defendant's guardian, relatives and friends.

Active servicemen who become criminal suspects or defendants may employ lawyers in the army or local areas as defenders.

Where a foreigner or a stateless criminal suspect entrusts a lawyer to defend, he can only entrust a Chinese lawyer as a defender.

(2) People who cannot serve

According to Article 32 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Law, a person who is being sentenced to punishment or is deprived of or restricted from personal liberty according to law shall not be a defender. According to Article 35 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation of Application and the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Provisions on Several Issues in the Implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law Article 4. The following persons shall not be defenders in criminal proceedings:

1. A person who is being sentenced to punishment or during probation or parole trials;

2. Persons who are deprived of or restricted from personal freedom according to law;

3. Incompetent or restricted persons;

4. Current staff of people's courts, people's procuratorates, public security organs, national security organs, and prisons;

5. People's jurors;

6. Those who have an interest in the outcome of the trial of this case;

7. Foreigners or stateless persons.

The people's court may approve the personnel specified in items 4, 5, 6, and 7 above if they are close relatives or guardians of the defendant and the defendant has appointed a defender.

Article 11 of the Lawyers Law stipulates that lawyers serving as members of the Standing Committees of People's Congresses at all levels shall not engage in litigation agency or defense business during their term of office. Article 41 of the Lawyers Law stipulates that lawyers who have served as judges and prosecutors shall not serve as litigation agents or defenders within two years after leaving the people's court and people's procuratorate.

According to Article 17 of the Judges Law, after a judge leaves the people's court, he may not act as a litigation agent or defender in the case before the incumbent court. The spouse and children of a judge shall not act as litigants or defenders in the courts where the judge serves. According to Article 20 of the "Prosecutor's Law," after leaving the People's Procuratorate, a prosecutor shall not be the litigant agent or defender of the original post of the Procuratorate in handling a case. The spouse and children of the prosecutor shall not be the litigants or defenders in the case handled by the procuratorate where the prosecutor serves.

Defender's primary responsibility

Article 35 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that the defender's responsibility is to submit materials and opinions that prove the criminal suspect or defendant's innocence, light crime or mitigation, or exempt him from criminal responsibility according to the facts and laws, and protect Legitimate rights and interests. Article 31 of the Lawyers Law also stipulates that if a lawyer serves as a criminal defender, he shall, in accordance with the facts and laws, submit materials and opinions that prove that the criminal suspect or defendant is not guilty, less guilty or mitigated or relieved him of criminal responsibility, and safeguard the criminal suspect, The defendant's legitimate rights and interests.

It can be seen that the responsibilities of defenders include the following aspects:

1. You can only defend based on facts and laws, and you must not fabricate facts and distort the law. Defenders must always adhere to the basic principle of fact-based and law-based standards in criminal proceedings. Under no circumstances should they help criminal suspects or defendants to make statements, collude, forge, destroy evidence or threaten or induce witnesses to provide false evidence. Evidence.

2. Put forward materials and opinions that prove that the criminal suspect or defendant is not guilty or guilty or that his criminal responsibility has been reduced or relieved.

In criminal proceedings, when defenders plead not guilty, they should focus on ascertaining and confirming that the fact that the criminal suspect or defendant is accused is not the act or false accusation, frame, false report, or false report, based on facts and laws. The criminal suspect and the defendant did not commit any crime at all; the behavior of the criminal suspect or the defendant is obviously minor and harmless, and is not considered a crime in accordance with the law; for the minor crime, no penalty or exemption is required in accordance with the criminal law. With regard to penalties, the People's Procuratorate can make a decision not to prosecute; for cases where the agency responsible for the investigation has undergone two additional investigations, the evidence is still insufficient and the conditions for prosecution are not met, and the People's Procuratorate can make a decision not to prosecute; although the behavior objectively results in damage, However, it is not due to intentional or negligent acts, but due to defensive or emergency hedging actions caused by irresistible or unforeseen reasons. People without criminal responsibility, including those under the age of 14 or mental patients, cannot be identified Or cause harm when you cannot control your behavior Of; certain crimes outside the territory of our citizens in our country, in accordance with local laws with impunity and so on.

When the defender defends the defendant for guilty offenses or mitigates or exempts him from criminal liability, he shall present materials and opinions that comply with the provisions of the Criminal Law and which may or should be mitigated or exempted from punishment. If Article 20, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Law stipulates that if legitimate defense clearly exceeds the necessary limit and causes significant damage, it shall bear criminal liability, but punishment shall be reduced or exempted. It is also possible to put forward a number of discretionary materials and opinions based on the consistent performance of the suspect, the defendant, and the attitude of confession and repentance. At the same time, it can also put forward relevant materials and opinions on the application of probation and execution outside prison for the defendant.

3. Only the legal rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants shall be safeguarded according to law. The defender only safeguards the lawful rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings. It does not protect all the interests of criminal suspects or defendants, nor does it safeguard the rights and interests that are restricted or deprived of according to law.

In defending the defendant's legitimate rights and interests, the duties of defenders are diverse. If a person in one of the six situations specified in Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Law should not be subject to criminal prosecution, the defender shall, according to law, prompt the public security and judicial organs to withdraw the case, or not to prosecute, or terminate the trial, or declare no If the crime is caused by wrongful prosecution to the criminal suspect or defendant, compensation shall be paid by the responsible authority; if there is insufficient evidence to prove that the defendant is guilty, an innocent defense opinion shall be provided; if it has already constituted a crime, the judiciary shall be sought Organs adhere to the principle of adapting crime to punishment and impartial justice; at the same time, they should provide legal assistance to criminal suspects and defendants, answer legal questions raised by them, explain their rights and obligations in criminal proceedings, and write for defendants. Legal documents; safeguarding the litigant rights of criminal suspects and defendants, such as defending their right to evade, defend, and appeal, etc., to request corrections or file a complaint with relevant departments for violations of their litigation rights; Legal education and publicity, give full play to the social effectiveness of defenders in litigation; etc.

4. The defender only has the duty to defend and has no obligation to sue. In the process of performing defense duties, if the defense lawyer learns that the criminal suspect and the defendant have committed other crimes that have not been accused, the patient is educated to confess and the criminal suspect and the defendant do not heed the opinions of the defender. What to do in this situation? One view argues that the defender should refuse to defend him and report it to the public security and judicial organs; another view argues that the defense lawyer is aware of the situation against the defendant in the course of performing his duties and is generally responsible for maintaining confidentiality, and No obligation to report. However, once the facts of a case that seriously endangers national security, social public safety, and the personal rights of citizens are involved, in the case of mobilizing criminal suspects and defendants, frankly invalid, the public security and judicial organs should be notified. The latter view is now widely accepted. This is because it helps to maintain the practice image and personal dignity of defense lawyers, and is more conducive to the healthy development of the defense system in the long run. However, the criminal procedure law should be further improved, such as establishing an immunity system for lawyers to testify.

Defender refuses to defend

There are two types of refusal to defend in criminal proceedings: one is the criminal suspect and the defendant refuses to defend him. The legal basis is the provisions of Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Law: During the trial, the defendant may refuse the defender to continue defending it, or may entrust the defender to defend it separately. The main body of the right of defense is the criminal suspect and the defendant. The right of defense is basically the lawsuit right of the criminal suspect and the defendant. The right of defense is derived from the main body of the right of defense. Therefore, the Criminal Procedure Law does not limit the right of defense of the criminal suspect or defendant to defense. Once proposed, it should take effect.

According to Article 45 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation of the Application, the defendant refuses a lawyer assigned by a legal aid agency to defend him and insists on exercising his right of defense, the people's court shall permit it. In cases where legal aid should be provided and the defendant refuses to assign a lawyer to defend it, the people's court shall find out the reasons. If the reason is right, it shall be allowed, but the defendant shall separately appoint a defender; if the defendant does not appoint another defender, the people's court shall notify the legal aid agency in writing within three days to assign another lawyer to provide defense.

Another type of refusal to defend in criminal proceedings refers to the lawyer's refusal to continue to defend the suspect and the defendant. Article 29 of the Lawyers Law provides that if the entrusted matters are illegal, the client uses the services provided by the lawyer to engage in illegal activities or the client conceals the facts, the lawyer has the right to refuse to defend. According to the relevant provisions of the Lawyer Law, after a defense lawyer accepts an entrustment, he shall not refuse to defend without justified reasons. Therefore, the lawyer's refusal to defend has strict legal conditions, and the refusal to defend can only be established if the above conditions are met. This point is different from the right of the criminal suspect and the defendant to refuse to defend.

Defenders' rights and obligations

(1) Main rights

According to the Criminal Procedure Law and the Lawyers Law, the rights of our defenders are:

1. Defenders have the right to defend independently based on facts and law. The defender independently defends himself based on his determination of the facts and his understanding of the law. No other organ, including the people's courts and people's procuratorates, or groups or individuals, has the right to interfere.

2. Right to scoring and meeting communication. According to Articles 37 and 38 of the Criminal Procedure Law, since the date when the people's procuratorate reviewed and prosecuted the case, defense lawyers can consult, extract, and copy the case file materials of the case, and can meet and communicate with suspects in custody. With the permission of the People's Procuratorate, other defenders may also consult, extract, and reproduce the aforementioned materials, and meet and communicate with the criminal suspects in custody. The Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that defense lawyers are not monitored when they meet criminal suspects or defendants.

3. The right to investigate and obtain evidence. According to Article 41 of the Criminal Procedure Law, with the consent of witnesses or other relevant units and individuals, defense lawyers can collect materials related to this case, or they can apply to the People's Procuratorate and People's Court to collect and retrieve evidence. A defense lawyer may collect materials related to this case from the victims, their close relatives, and the consent of witnesses provided by the victims, with the permission of the people's procuratorate or the people's court. Other defenders do not have this right. However, according to Article 35 of the Lawyers Law, lawyers' self-investigation and evidence collection only need to provide a lawyer's practice certificate and a law firm's certificate, without the consent of the investigator. Article 39 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that if the defender believes that the evidence materials collected by the public security organs and the People's Procuratorate during the investigation, examination and prosecution to prove that the criminal suspect or defendant is not guilty or the crime is minor, he has the right to apply for the Called by the people's court.

4. The right to a defence. Article 170 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that, in examining a case, the people's procuratorate shall listen to the opinions of the defender. In other words, the defender appointed by the criminal suspect has the right to defend the client at the stage of review and prosecution. People's procuratorates should listen to this.

5. At the trial stage of a case, the defender has the right to receive a notice of appearance from the people's court no later than 3 days before the hearing.

6. Right to participate in court investigations and court debates. According to the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, during the court investigation stage, after the public prosecutor has interrogated the defendant, the defendant can ask the defendant with the permission of the presiding judge; with the permission of the presiding judge, he can question the witnesses and expert witnesses; The right to apply for new witnesses to appear in court, retrieve new evidence, apply for re-appraisal or inspection. During the court debate, the defender can comment on the evidence and the circumstances of the case and can start a debate with the prosecution.

7. Right to appeal with the consent of the defendant. According to Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the defendant's defender can appeal with the defendant's consent. That is, the defender, with the consent of the defendant, has the right to appeal against a judgment or ruling that has not yet entered into force in the first instance.

8. If the people's court, the people's procuratorate and the public security organ take compulsory measures beyond the legal time limit, the defender has the right to demand the lifting of the compulsory measures. Article 97 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that criminal suspects, defendants and other legal agents, close relatives or suspects, lawyers commissioned by the defendants and their defenders have taken compulsory measures against people's courts, people's procuratorates or public security organs. If it is within the legal time limit, it has the right to request the lifting of the compulsory measures. Article 95 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that criminal suspects, defendants and their legal representatives, close relatives or defenders have the right to apply for changes to compulsory measures. After receiving the application, the people's court, people's procuratorate and public security organ shall make a decision within 3 days; if they do not agree to change the compulsory measures, they shall inform the applicant and explain the reasons for disagreement.

9. Refusal of defence. According to the Criminal Procedure Law and Lawyers Law, there are two cases of refusal to defend: one is the criminal suspect, the defendant refuses to defend the defender to continue defending; the other is to deny the defendant has legal reasons to cease to be a criminal suspect, Defendant's act of defense. Paragraph 2 of Article 32 of the Lawyers Law stipulates that after the lawyer accepts the entrustment, he shall not refuse to defend or represent him without legitimate reasons, but the entrusted matters are illegal, the client uses the services provided by the lawyer to engage in illegal activities, or the client conceals the facts. The lawyer has Right to refuse defense or representation.

10. Right to appeal. Article 36 of the Criminal Procedure Law provides that defense lawyers can represent the criminal suspects in making complaints and complaints during the investigation. Article 47 stipulates that if the defender or the litigation agent considers that the public security organ, the people's procuratorate, the people's court, and its staff prevent them from exercising their lawsuit rights in accordance with the law, they have the right to appeal or sue the people's procuratorate at the same level or higher.

11. The defender's personal rights in lawful practice are inviolable.

(2) Obligations

The main obligations of the defender are:

1. The defender is obliged to present materials and opinions that prove the innocence, mitigation or mitigation or exemption of criminal responsibility of the criminal suspect or defendant based on facts and laws, and safeguard the legal rights of the criminal suspect or defendant in accordance with the law.

2. When meeting with criminal suspects or defendants in custody, they shall abide by the rules of care places.

3. Obey court rules when attending court trials.

4. Without the permission of the People's Procuratorate or the People's Court, no materials related to this case may be collected from the victims or witnesses provided by the victims.

5. Defence lawyers and other defenders shall not help criminal suspects or defendants confess, conceal, destroy or falsify evidence, nor shall they threaten or induce witnesses to change their testimony or give false testimony or conduct other acts that interfere with judicial proceedings. Otherwise, legal responsibility should be investigated in accordance with the law. Article 306 of the Criminal Law stipulates that, in criminal proceedings, if the defender destroys or falsifies evidence, threatens or induces witnesses to change their testimony or perjure against the facts, they shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than 3 years or imprisonment. If the circumstances are serious, he will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 3 to 7 years.

6. The defender shall present the physical evidence to the court for the parties to identify, and shall read the testimony of the witnesses who have not yet appeared in the court, the appraisal conclusions of the expert, and other documents as evidence.

7. The evidence collected by the defender about the criminal suspect who is not at the crime scene, has not reached the age of criminal responsibility, and belongs to a mental patient who does not bear criminal responsibility according to law shall promptly inform the public security organs and the people's procuratorate.

According to the Lawyers Law, defense lawyers shall also perform the following obligations in their practice activities:

1. You must not accept the entrustment privately, collect fees from the client privately, accept the property of the client, or use the convenience of providing legal services to accept the property of the other party;

2. Don't meet judges and prosecutors in violation of regulations;

3. Don't invite guests or give bribes to judges, prosecutors and other relevant staff, or direct or induce parties to pay bribes;

4. Must not provide false evidence, conceal facts or threaten, induce others to provide false evidence to conceal facts, and prevent the other party from legally obtaining evidence;

5. must not interfere with the normal conduct of the lawsuit;

6. Keep state secrets and business secrets of parties involved in the performance of defense duties, and shall not disclose the parties' privacy;

7. Lawyers who have served as judges and prosecutors shall not serve as defenders within two years of leaving the people's court and people's procuratorate;

8. Must assume legal aid obligations in accordance with state regulations, perform its duties with due diligence, and provide legal services to recipients;

9. No defence shall be refused without just cause.

Defence statement

A defense statement is a speech delivered by the defender to the court to protect the defendant's legitimate rights and interests. It is the defender's concluding opinion on the case being defended and an important means for the defender to realize his defense function in criminal proceedings. All activities performed by the defender in accordance with the law after receiving the commission, including studying the indictment, consulting the file materials, interviewing the defendant, conducting investigations and collecting evidence, the purpose is to comprehensively, deeply and carefully collect and analyze all the benefits to the defendant. Evidence material, and these efforts are in preparation of defense. Therefore, writing a good defense is an important job for defenders.

(I) Basic requirements

1. Adhere to the principle of "based on facts and based on law". The defence must be based on facts, and the facts must not be distorted under any circumstances; the legal provisions cited in the defence must be accurate, and the law must not be distorted under any circumstances.

2. As a targeted and defensive legal document, a defense statement shall proceed from the defense of the defendant's legitimate rights and interests, and comprehensively put forward the opinion of innocence, light crime, or lighten, reduce, or relieve the defendant's criminal responsibility. A complaint against the defendant.

3. The arguments in the defense should be clear, and the arguments should be full and comprehensive, and put forward the key points. The structure is rigorous and the levels are clear; the words should be smooth, the words should be accurate and concise, and strive to convince people with reason and emotional people.

(Two) organizational arguments

The defense argument is based on a comprehensive and comprehensive analysis of the case materials and forms the basic view of defending the defendant and defending his legal rights and interests. To write a good defense, you must first establish a defense argument. Because the circumstances of each case are different, the defence arguments established are different. In general, there are several situations in which a defense argument is established:

1. For the facts of the crime charged in the indictment, if there is no evidence to prove the existence, the act of the perpetrator does not constitute a crime, or the facts of the crime charged against the defendant are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, and the charge cannot be established, the defendant shall be acquitted.

2. If the criminal behavior charged by the indictment with the defendant constitutes a crime, but the criminal responsibility should be lightened, mitigated or exempted according to law, the defense of lightening, mitigating or exempting criminal responsibility should be defended.

3. If the defendant's behavior has constituted a crime, but the criminal responsibility is not investigated in accordance with Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Law, a defense shall be made for the non-accountability.

4. Some cases where the facts are unclear and the evidence is insufficient can be used as a defense to reduce criminal liability.

5. If the facts are clear, the evidence is firm and sufficient, but the characterization is inaccurate, and the applicable law is inappropriate, the case shall be defended.

(Three) basic format

The defense words generally include three parts: the first part, the main body and the last part.

1. The main part consists of three parts, namely the title, the title of the judge and the foreword. The preface should explain: first, the legality of the defender's appearance in court, that is, whether it is entrusted by the defendant or designated by the people's court. In practice, it was stated that it was assigned by a law firm. Second, what did the defender do before the trial, such as checking the file, interviewing the defendant, investigating the case, etc., in order to show the court that his defense opinion is well-founded. Third, you can also open up in the preface to put forward the basic viewpoints on handling the case and briefly explain the court investigation. In this way, the flag clearly shows your attitude at the beginning, which can leave a deep impression and prepare for the body part.

2. Body part. The text includes justifications and opinions. This part is the core part of the defense statement, which is a comprehensive and systematic argument for the defender's basic views and opinions on the case. We must focus on explaining and demonstrating the viewpoints of defense, putting the facts and reasoning, citing facts and laws to demonstrate our views, and refute the allegations of the indictment. The specific content varies from case to case. The specific content and scope of the defense statement can be summarized as follows: whether the facts of the crime charged by the indictment against the defendant can be established; whether the defendant has reached the age of criminal responsibility; whether there are others who should not be held criminally liable should not be investigated for criminal responsibility Whether the indictment is accurate in determining the case and the convicted crimes, and whether the applicable legal provisions are appropriate; whether the defendant has the circumstances of lightening, mitigating or exempting the punishment required by law; Plot; whether there is a contradiction between evidence and evidence, between the evidence and the defendant's confession; whether the defendant's subjective intention or negligence is an accident; whether the defendant's behavior is justified defense or emergency avoidance; in joint crime cases Whether the distinction between the first offender, the principal offender, the offender, and the threatened offender is clear; whether the lawsuit is legal. There are also cases that need to be defended from several aspects at the same time.

3. Concluding remarks. It mainly includes two aspects: one is to make a summary of his speech and put forward concluding opinions to deepen the court's impression of his defense viewpoint; the other is how the defendant convicts and sentenced, what provisions of the criminal law apply The court makes comments and suggestions. The concluding remarks should be concise and clear-cut, and the views must be clear. This part should be the finishing touch.

Defender designation

According to Article 34 of the Criminal Procedure Law, if the criminal suspect or defendant has not appointed a defender due to financial difficulties or other reasons, I and his close relatives may apply to a legal aid agency. Where legal aid is met, the legal aid agency shall appoint a lawyer to defend it.

(1) Circumstances in which a defense should be specified

If the criminal suspect or defendant is blind, deaf, or a dumb person, or a mental patient who has not completely lost his ability to identify or control his behavior and has not commissioned a defender, the people's court, people's procuratorate and public security organ shall notify the legal aid agency to assign a lawyer It provides defense. If a criminal suspect or defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment or death, and no defender has been entrusted, the people's court, people's procuratorate and public security organ shall notify the legal aid agency to assign a lawyer to provide defense.

Article 267 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that if a minor criminal suspect or defendant has not appointed a defender, the people's court, people's procuratorate, and public security organ shall notify the legal aid agency to assign a lawyer to provide defense.
According to the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation of Application, if the High People's Court reviews a death penalty case and the defendant has not appointed a defender, it shall notify the legal aid agency to assign a lawyer to defend it.

(2) Circumstances in which defense can be designated

In one of the following situations, where the defendant has not appointed a defender, the people's court may notify the legal aid agency to assign a lawyer to defend it:

1. In a joint crime case, the other defendants have already appointed defenders;

2. Cases with significant social impact;

3. Cases protested by the People's Procuratorate;

4. The defendant's actions may not constitute a crime;

5. Other cases where it is necessary to appoint a lawyer to provide a defence.