Criminal cases go through the investigation stage, review and prosecution stage, and trial stage. Cases cannot be made public during the investigation phase. The court opening file is the case file material formed after the case enters the People's Court. It is divided into a court opening file and a trial file. The main file contains public materials, and the supplementary file contains case file materials that are not open to the public according to law.
According to the provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China": Article 40 Defense lawyers may consult, excerpt, and copy the case file materials from the date of review and prosecution of the case by the People's Procuratorate. Other defenders may also consult, excerpt, and copy the above-mentioned materials with the permission of the People's Court and People's Procuratorate.