The difference is that paralegals are not necessarily interns, but interns are generally paralegals.
A trainee lawyer is a quasi-lawyer who has passed the judicial examination and spent 1 year in a law firm. These trainee lawyers generally work as paralegals in law firms. You can be a paralegal without a trainee lawyer's license, but the lawyer who takes you will still want you to take the judicial examination as soon as possible, so that you can help him do more things.
In short, trainee lawyers are quasi-lawyers, and paralegals are just professional titles with different categories.
Intern lawyers and lay paralegals participate in litigation.
In the field of legal services, so-called "trainee lawyers" and "paralegals" can be seen everywhere. Obviously, it is easy for people who lack legal knowledge to confuse these people with lawyers. In addition, the parties even authorized them to represent the case. In this regard, many grass-roots courts also allow "trainee lawyers" and "paralegals" to accompany practicing lawyers to participate in the trial for various subjective and objective reasons, and even express their opinions on the trial. We think it is illegal to allow interns and paralegals to represent cases and participate in court trials:
First, the difference between "lawyer" and "trainee lawyer" and "paralegal". 20 12 article 2 of the lawyer law stipulates that a lawyer refers to a practitioner who has obtained a lawyer's practice certificate according to law, accepts entrustment or assignment, and provides legal services to clients. The reverse interpretation of this article is that you are not a lawyer without obtaining a lawyer's practice certificate. According to Article 5 of the Law, one of the conditions for applying for practicing as a lawyer is "practicing in a law firm for one year". Article 46 of this Law stipulates that the lawyers' association shall perform the following duties: (5) Organizing and managing the internship activities of those who apply for lawyer practice, and assessing the interns. It can be seen that one year before the end of the internship, the so-called "intern lawyer" should be called: intern. As for unprofessional paralegals, they can be divided into two types: those who passed the judicial examination and those who failed. In the former case, most of them are interns in the internship period. In the latter case, the so-called "paralegal" simply does not have the prerequisite to become a lawyer.
Second, whether "trainee lawyers" and "paralegals" can represent cases and participate in court trials. According to Article 23 of 20 10 "Management Rules for Internship of Lawyer Applicants", law firms and internship guidance lawyers may not instruct or let interns engage in the following acts: (1) undertaking lawyer business alone; (2) signing an agency agreement or a legal consultant agreement in the name of a lawyer and issuing legal documents to the outside world; (three) in the name of a lawyer in the court or arbitration tribunal to defend or represent opinions; (4) Negotiating and signing business in the name of a lawyer; (5) Printing business cards and other relevant materials in the name of lawyers; (six) other activities that should be carried out in the name of a lawyer according to law. Article 24 If an intern commits any of the following acts during his internship, the law firm shall give criticism and education, order him to make corrections, and report to the local lawyers association. The lawyers association shall give the intern a warning; If the circumstances are serious, the internship shall be ordered to stop, the internship certificate shall be confiscated, and the internship shall not be applied again within two years: (1) engaging in the illegal acts listed in Article 23 of these Detailed Rules in the name of a lawyer without permission.
Since a person who has passed the judicial examination is not allowed to engage in legal services in the name of a lawyer under the condition of practicing for less than one year, a paralegal who has not passed the judicial examination cannot represent cases and participate in litigation in the name of a lawyer. This is also in line with Article 13 of the Lawyers Law: "A person who has not obtained a lawyer's practice certificate may not engage in legal services in the name of a lawyer; Unless otherwise provided by law, they shall not engage in litigation agency or defense business.
In addition, the Supreme People's Court Liaison Office 20 16 "Reply to the Report on Requesting Intern Lawyers to Assist in Handling Filing Procedures" also re-emphasized that intern lawyers, as persons who have not yet obtained the qualification to practice as lawyers, cannot conduct litigation activities in the name of lawyers. However, trainee lawyers can accept the entrustment of entrusted lawyers and submit filing materials to the filing window of the people's court with relevant procedures. There is no essential difference between this practice and mailing complaints, and it is not directly related to whether the trainee lawyer represents the case.
Finally, the second paragraph of Article 25 of the Provisions on the Protection of Lawyers' Practice Rights of September, 2065438+2005 stipulates that lawyers can apply to the people's court to bring paralegals to participate in the trial as needed. The paralegals can only engage in relevant auxiliary work when attending the trial, and may not express their opinions on defense or agency.
Third, the documents issued by the Lawyers Association did not explicitly require interns to appear in court. According to the provisions of Article 33 of the Rules for the Administration of Internship of Lawyer Applicants, the criteria for passing the examination of interns are: (1) completing the centralized training program and obtaining the certificate of completion of centralized training for interns; (two) to complete the internship training project and pass the examination by the internship guidance lawyer and law firm; (3) Having been assessed as having the basic quality of practicing as a lawyer through comprehensive quality assessment; (4) Abide by the lawyer's professional ethics and internship discipline, and there is no violation of laws and regulations in violation of these rules. It can be seen from the above that there is no requirement to appear in court in the assessment standards for interns issued by the Lawyers Association.
I hope the above content can help you. If in doubt, please consult a professional lawyer.
Legal basis:
Article 2 of the Lawyers Law
The term "lawyer" as mentioned in this Law refers to a practitioner who has obtained a lawyer's practice certificate according to law, accepted entrustment or assignment, and provided legal services to clients.
Article 5 To apply for practicing as a lawyer, the following conditions shall be met:
(a) support the constitution of People's Republic of China (PRC);
(2) Having passed the national unified judicial examination;
(3) Having worked as an intern in a law firm for one year;
(4) Good conduct.
The lawyer qualification certificate obtained before the implementation of the national unified judicial examination has the same effect as the national unified judicial examination certificate when applying for lawyer practice.