The United States and the United Kingdom generally regulate conflicts of interest through legal controls and industry self-regulation. In our country, this is achieved through the direct management of lawyers by law firms, the self-discipline management of lawyers associations, and the business guidance and supervision of judicial administrative agencies. Punishment for lawyers' misconduct in professional practice is mainly based on judicial administrative means, supplemented by self-correction by the industry. [56] my country's normative documents on conflicts of interest in lawyers' practice are mainly based on the "Code of Conduct for Lawyers" formulated by local lawyers associations. my country's regulations on conflicts of interest in lawyers' practice rarely appear in legal form and are only scattered in the Lawyers Law and the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 35 of the "Interpretation of Certain Issues in the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that defenders shall not defend more than two co-defendants of the same crime; Article 33 (6) stipulates that , shall not entrust anyone who has an interest in the outcome of the case to serve as a defender. Article 34 of the "Lawyers Law" stipulates: "A lawyer shall not serve as the agent of both parties in the same case."
The "Code of Conduct for Lawyers" revised by the All-China Lawyers Association in 2004 has strict regulations on lawyers practicing law. Supplementary provisions have been made on conflicts of interest. [57] The "Measures for Punishing Illegal Conduct of Lawyers and Law Firms" promulgated by the Ministry of Justice on March 19, 2004 [58] stipulates a number of behaviors involving conflicts of interest that are prohibited in the practice of lawyers. Articles 13 and 14 of the "Several Provisions on Lawyers Serving as Corporate Legal Advisors" adopted by the Ministry of Justice in June 1992 prohibit corporate legal advisors from serving as opposing parties in the same case. In addition, conflicts of interest are also involved in a series of documents issued by the Ministry of Justice, but they are relatively superficial[59]. At the beginning of this century, bar associations across China have successively formulated rules for identifying and handling conflicts of interest in the practice of lawyers within their respective administrative regions. For example, the "Shanghai Lawyers Association's Rules for the Identification and Handling of Conflicts of Interest in the Practice of Lawyers (Trial)" passed by the third meeting of the sixth council of the Shanghai Lawyers Association (2001 December 30) and the fourth meeting of the fifth council of the Henan Lawyers Association The "Rules for Avoiding Conflicts of Interest in Lawyers' Practice (Trial)" were adopted and promulgated on August 22, 2005. The "Beijing Lawyers' Rules for Avoiding Conflicts of Interest (Trial)" passed by the eighth session of the fifth session of the Beijing Lawyers Association on June 1, 2002, and the fourth session of the first session of the Chongqing Lawyers Association on August 1, 2002 The "Chongqing Lawyers Association's Rules for Identification and Handling of Conflicts of Interest (Trial)" passed at the meeting.
As can be seen from the above, my country’s current regulations on conflicts of interest in lawyers’ practice are only scattered in some provisions of laws, departmental regulations, judicial interpretations and normative documents. The Lawyers Law not only does not have a special chapter or even a special section, but also has only one provision prohibiting lawyers from representing each other. As the highest standard for China’s legal profession, the All-China Lawyers Association’s latest Code of Conduct for Lawyers only stipulates eight clauses on conflicts of interest, which are unclear on many specific issues and lack operability. Although various provincial bar associations have formulated different conflict of interest norms in practice, their contents are inconsistent and incomplete. There is no corresponding standard on how to coordinate conflicts of interest between lawyer branches established across provinces and regions. Regulation. Therefore, our country urgently needs to establish a systematic and complete set of regulations on conflicts of interest in lawyers' practice.
"Double Agency"
Measures for Punishing Lawyers for Illegal Conduct (Ministry of Justice Order No. 50, January 31, 1997)
Article 6 Lawyers have Anyone who commits any of the following acts shall be given a warning by the justice department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government or the justice bureau of the city divided into districts; if the circumstances are serious, a penalty of suspension of practice for not less than three months but not more than one year shall be imposed; if there is any illegal income, it shall be confiscated Illegal gains;
(1) Practicing in two or more law firms at the same time;
(2) Acting for both parties or an interested third party in the same case ;
......
(16) Other violations of laws, regulations and rules.