China Esquire

Well, last week I posted “ sanlu + government help = no lawsuits?” where I discussed the policy of the Chinese government to offer help in lieu of allowing Sanlu and other entities to suffer through lawsuits, the lack of damages and use of civil litigation, and other such thoughts.  And of course, lawyers looked very good because they were helping their people enforce their rights at hospitals and other places.

Turns out that this rosy picture isn’t so rosy after all: enter the Chinese government’s “encouragement” to lawyers to stop taking on these cases.  (a.k.a. government pressure)  Reuters published this article entitled “ China milk victim lawyers say pressed to quit” ( h/t CDT) yesterday:

Chinese lawyers seeking redress for infant victims of toxic milk say they are facing growing official pressure to abandon the efforts, blaming growing government sensitivity over the health scandal.

[L]ocal rights advocates and lawyers have mobilized to support families seeking redress, possibly by suing dairies or officials who failed to disclose the problem.

But on Sunday, organizers of the campaign and some of the lawyers said officials in some provinces have pressured volunteers or their bosses to give up the campaign.

“About two dozen of the lawyers have called these past days to say they want to quit the volunteer advice group,” said Li Fangping, a Beijing lawyer who helped organize the group soon after public news of the poisonings emerged.

“Some of them said that they or their offices were told they’d face serious repercussions if they stayed involved.”

Frankly, I am not all that surprised.  I was hoping that the government would continue to work with lawyers to ensure public safety and allow the victims to receive important treatment.  I was also hoping that the government would see cooperation with lawyers are promoting a peaceful society.  But alas, the government, as always, has decided to cast lawyers as troublemakers…  and harmful to a harmonious society.  I think its a bad policy choice as usual.

It’s not like the lawyers were instigating civil lawsuits or anything–they were merely allowing victims access to government sponsored treatment for free.  I wonder if the government appreciates any group that would portend to be a rival to itself in terms of being helpful to the public…

But the rash of warnings suggests the government does not want lingering political and legal fallout from the milk scandal.

“I’d guess they see this issue as just too sensitive for lawyers and court cases,” said Zhou Shifeng, a volunteer lawyer from Beijing who said he had heard of the pressure.

“When the interests involved are too powerful, they will devise ways to get lawyers to quit, not necessarily direct orders.”

Many hundreds of parents have called the volunteers to ask about compensation, and possibly suing Sanlu Group, the north Chinese dairy whose milk powder has been blamed for many of the illnesses, said Li.

Lawyers in Beijing said law officials there had nudged them to be “aware of the general picture” and to heed and have trust in the government’s handling of the scandal.

But in other parts of the country where many children are sick, apparently from milk powder, the advocates received tougher warnings, some said.

“The local judicial authorities just don’t want any of us to take part,” said Chang Boyang, a lawyer from central China’s Henan province who helped organize the group. “The pressure on law offices was too heavy. We had to compromise.”

While it may be the case that many asked about suing Sanlu, there were no indications that any lawyer was actually about to do the dirty deed. In fact, it seemed like most lawyers were already hesitant to do so.  So why in the world is the government stepping in to ensure that it won’t happen?  My feeling was that the government was already acting like a safety valve on public pressure.  Now its just attempting to make its feelings known in a way that is plainly ridiculous.

I think what the government is afraid of is that the true general picture will come out of this scandal: lax, lazy, and/or corrupt administrators; a government that looks terribly slow and lame in light of the fact that this was known for months; more PR touting just how bad China product quality has become.  But you know what?  It’s already happened.  The cat is out of the bag.  And no matter how hard the government tries, you cannot unring the bell.  It’s done.

If the Chinese government continues to believe that this sort of thing is too sensitive for the courts and the judicial system, then what good is the judicial system anyways?  Other than as an appendix to the Party?  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  And that’s the problem in my mind.  If the government got over its need to save face 110% of the time, I think rule of law would actually help the country as a whole…  and also help the government get to work on actually running the country, and not worrying 110% of what the rest of the world thinks about it.  It’s rather counterproductive.

Just had to vent a little since I see my fellow lawyers being slightly oppressed.

UPDATE: Looks like CNN got in the act with a video about this story too.

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