Patrick Kar-wai Poon [Executive Secretary, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group]: "The lawyers who can't pass their annual registration will not be able to practise as lawyers at least in the coming year. Article 13 of the PRC Law on Lawyers stipulates, "a person who has not acquired a lawyer's practicing certificate shall not be engaged in legal service practices in the name of lawyer; and, except as otherwise provided for by law, shall not be engaged in a practice of representation or defense in litigation."

However, they can still represent their clients by acting as "agent ad litem" (gongmin daili). According to Article 40 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law, for instance, "a victim in a case of public prosecution, his legal representatives or near relatives, and a party in an incidental civil action and his legal representatives shall, from the date on which the case is transferred for examination before prosecution, have the right to entrust agents ad litem." One reason why agents ad litem are recognised is that there are not enough lawyers in some parts of China. But according to a 1993 regulation of the Ministry of Justice, agent ad litem is not allowed to take fees. This means that the lawyers who cannot have their practice license renewed will not be able to receive fees for their handling of cases as mere 'agents ad litem.'

Lawyers in some other provinces, such as Shaanxi, Shandong and Guangdong, are still undergoing the annual registration process. Some of them told us that they might also face difficulities in having their practice licenses renewed this year. Some were because of being involved in joining to express their willingness to offer legal assistance to the Tibetans suspected or accused of taking part in the violence in the "Tibet Incident" in March, while some were involved in other human rights cases. So, the problem we want to point out is that the annual registration system puts undue pressure on the lawyers and there has been no clear explanation from the local Justice Bureau about how they decide if they allow a lawyer to re-register or not. It gives the Justice Bureau too much power in deciding whether the lawyers can register or not which is against the spirit of the rule of law."