Chapter VI Legal Liability
Article 47
If a lawyer commits one of the following acts, the judicial administrative department of the people's government at the municipal level or municipality directly under the Central Government shall give him a warning and may impose a fine of not more than 5,000 yuan; Illegal income, confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, the punishment of stopping practicing for less than three months shall be given: (1) practicing in more than two law firms at the same time; (2) Undertaking business by improper means; (3) Representing both parties in the same case, or representing legal affairs that have conflicts of interest with himself and his close relatives; (4) Failing to serve as an agent ad litem or defender within two years after leaving the people's court or people's procuratorate; (5) Refusing to perform the obligation of legal aid.
Article 48
If a lawyer commits one of the following acts, the judicial administrative department of the people's government at the municipal level or municipality directly under the Central Government shall give him a warning and may impose a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan; Illegal income, confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, he shall be punished for stopping practicing for more than three months and less than six months: (1) accepting entrustment, charging fees, accepting property or other benefits from the client without permission; (two) after accepting the entrustment, refusing to defend or represent without justifiable reasons, and not appearing in court on time to participate in litigation or arbitration; (three) to seek the disputed rights and interests of the parties by taking advantage of the convenience of providing legal services; (4) divulging business secrets or personal privacy.
Article 49
If a lawyer commits one of the following acts, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a city divided into districts or a municipality directly under the Central Government shall impose a penalty of not less than six months but not more than one year, and may also impose a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan; Illegal income, confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke his lawyer's practice certificate; If the case constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law: (1) meeting with judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other relevant staff in violation of regulations, or affecting the handling of cases according to law in other improper ways; (2) Offering bribes to judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other relevant staff members, introducing bribes or instigating or inducing parties to pay bribes; (3) Providing false materials to the judicial administrative department or committing other fraudulent acts; (4) Deliberately providing false evidence or threatening or inducing others to provide false evidence, which hinders the other party from obtaining evidence according to law; (5) accepting property or other benefits from the other party, and maliciously colluding with the other party or a third party to infringe upon the rights and interests of the client; (6) Disrupting the order of courts and arbitration tribunals and interfering with the normal conduct of litigation and arbitration activities; (seven) inciting or instructing the parties to take illegal means such as disturbing public order and endangering public security to resolve disputes; (8) making statements that endanger national security, maliciously slander others, and seriously disturb the order of the court; (9) divulging state secrets. If a lawyer is subject to criminal punishment for intentional crime, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke his lawyer's practice certificate.
Article 50
If a law firm commits one of the following acts, the judicial administrative department of the people's government at the municipal level or municipality directly under the Central Government shall give a warning according to the circumstances, suspend business for rectification for more than/kloc-0 months and less than 6 months, and may also impose a fine of less than 1 00000 yuan; Illegal income, confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are particularly serious, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke the practice certificate of the law firm: (1) accepting entrustment or charging fees in violation of regulations; (two) in violation of legal procedures to change the name, person in charge, articles of association, partnership agreement, domicile, partners and other major issues; (3) engaging in business activities other than legal services; (four) to slander other law firms, lawyers or pay referral fees and other improper means to undertake business; (5) Accepting cases with conflicts of interest in violation of regulations; (6) Refusing to perform the obligation of legal aid; (seven) providing false materials to the judicial administrative department or committing other fraudulent acts; (eight) dereliction of duty in the management of lawyers in this firm, resulting in serious consequences. If a law firm is punished for the illegal acts mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall give a warning or a fine of less than 20,000 yuan to the person in charge, depending on the seriousness of the case.
Article 51
If a lawyer violates the provisions of this Law and should be warned and punished within one year after being warned and punished, the judicial administrative department of the district people's government at the municipal level with districts or municipalities directly under the Central Government shall give him a punishment of stopping practicing for more than three months and less than one year; If the punishment for stopping practicing occurs again within two years after the expiration of the period, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke the lawyer's practice certificate. If a law firm violates the provisions of this Law and should be punished by suspending business for rectification, the judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall revoke its practice certificate within two years after the expiration of the punishment period.
Article 52
The judicial administrative department of the people's government at the county level shall carry out daily supervision and management over the practice activities of lawyers and law firms, and shall order them to correct the problems found in the inspection; Complaints against the parties shall be investigated in a timely manner. If the judicial administrative department of the people's government at the county level thinks that the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms should be given administrative punishment, it shall put forward suggestions for punishment to the judicial administrative department at a higher level.
Article 53
A lawyer who has been punished for stopping practicing for more than six months, and whose punishment period is less than three years, shall not be a partner.
Article 54
If a lawyer practices illegally or causes losses to the parties due to his fault, his law firm shall be liable for compensation. After making compensation, a law firm may claim compensation from a lawyer who has committed intentional or gross negligence.
Article 55
If a person who has not obtained a lawyer's practice certificate engages in legal services in the name of a lawyer, the judicial administrative department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order him to stop his illegal practice, confiscate his illegal income, and impose a fine of more than/kloc-0 and less than 5 times his illegal income.
Article 56
Any functionary of the judicial administrative department who, in violation of this law, abuses his power or neglects his duty, which constitutes a crime, shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; If it does not constitute a crime, it shall be punished according to law.