Are lawyers allowed to represent people facing detention in re-education-through-labor camps?
Re-education through labor has been used throughout the mainland since 1957 to punish minor offenders such as petty thieves, hooligans and Falun Gong followers who are not subject to criminal prosecution. A panel of police officers or government officials determines whether the accused should be detained at a labor camp. The workings of the system are opaque because there is no legislation covering its administration. Detainees can serve up to three years in a camp, in contrast to convicted criminals – who have the opportunity for probation and may avoid serving time in jail altogether. There are no official statistics on how many people have been put into the camps, but some estimates suggest there are more than 300,000 nationwide. Reforms were necessary. Thus, Chongqing has begun allowing lawyers to represent people facing detention in re-education-through-labor camps – an unprecedented move to shed light on the system’s notoriously secret procedures. The Chongqing Justice Administra
