Regarding the litigation status of defenders, we should mainly understand it from the following aspects:
1. Defenders only undertake the defense function in criminal proceedings and are special defenders of the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants. Defenders are generally unable to report and expose the criminal acts of criminal suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings.
2. The defender is an independent participant in the lawsuit. The relationship between defenders and criminal suspects and defendants is different from that between agents ad litem and parties. The participation of defense lawyers in litigation is to perform their duties stipulated by law, not based on the authorization of criminal suspects and defendants. Although in entrusted defense, the defender can only obtain the defense qualification by accepting the entrustment of the criminal suspect or defendant, after accepting the entrustment, the defender enjoys an independent litigation status in law, defends independently in his own name, according to his own grasp of the facts and understanding of the law, and is not bound by the expression of the will of the criminal suspect or defendant, and is not the "spokesperson" of the criminal suspect or defendant.
3. Defenders protect the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings, not illegal rights and interests. Therefore, defenders can only defend criminal suspects and defendants according to facts and laws, but can't seek illegal interests for clients, let alone instigate criminal suspects and defendants to retract their confessions, and help criminal suspects and defendants threaten or induce witnesses to change their testimony or engage in other activities that hinder litigation.
The role of the defender:
Defense lawyers can provide materials and opinions to prove the innocence of criminal suspects and defendants, or reduce or exempt them from criminal responsibility and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests according to facts and laws. However, a defense lawyer shall not help a criminal suspect or defendant to conceal, destroy, forge evidence or collude in confession, and shall not threaten or induce witnesses to change their testimony or commit perjury or engage in other acts that hinder judicial procedures.
Legal basis:
Article 37 of the Criminal Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) * * * Defender's duty is to put forward materials and opinions on the innocence, light crime or reduction or exemption of criminal responsibility of criminal suspects and defendants according to facts and laws, and safeguard the litigation rights and other legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants.