Legal basis: Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), with the consent of witnesses or other relevant units and individuals, defense lawyers may collect materials related to this case from them, apply to the people's procuratorate or the people's court for collecting and obtaining evidence, or apply to the people's court for notifying witnesses to testify in court. With the permission of the people's procuratorate or the people's court, and with the consent of the victim or his close relatives or witnesses provided by the victim, the defense lawyer may collect materials related to the case from them.
Article 35 of the Lawyers Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) * * * An entrusted lawyer may, according to the needs of the case, apply to the people's procuratorate or the people's court for collecting and obtaining evidence or to the people's court for notifying witnesses to testify in court. If a lawyer investigates and collects evidence by himself, he may, with the lawyer's practice certificate and the certificate of the law firm, investigate the situation related to undertaking legal affairs with the relevant units or individuals.
According to Article 64 of the Civil Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the parties have the responsibility to provide evidence for their claims. The people's court shall investigate and collect evidence that the parties and their agents ad litem cannot collect on their own due to objective reasons, or evidence that the people's court considers necessary for hearing a case. The people's court shall comprehensively and objectively examine and verify the evidence in accordance with legal procedures.