Currently, the prevention situation of Nanjing, shrouded by the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) epidemic, is still quite severe. Venues under public security supervision of all levels are subject to closed management to strictly prevent infection. Under the advocacy of the epidemic prevention and control guidelines of “handling business online unless it’s necessary” in venues under public security supervision of all levels, criminal defense lawyer’s meeting with the criminal suspect, if necessary, can only be conducted when it follows the procedures of “application of the lawyer him/herself, substantive review and approval of the law firm, report to Jiangsu Lawyers Association for review and approval, forwarding to the supervision division for review, notice for meeting of venues of all levels under public security supervision” as stipulated by Review and Approval Procedures for Meeting with Lawyers During Epidemic Prevention and Control of Nanjing on the condition that it meets the requirement of “indeed necessary meeting conditions” (that is: 1. First meeting with the lawyer after the criminal suspect was detained; 2. A meeting within the period (7 days) when the case is submitted for review of custody necessities; 3. First meeting after the case was transferred for examination of prosecution; 4. The meeting for the criminal suspect to sign the Recognizance for Pleading Guilty and Accepting Punishment with the lawyer; 5. A meeting before the trial; 6. A meeting within the appeal period after first-instance judgment.) in accordance with the Notice on Regulating and Guaranteeing the Meeting with Lawyers During the Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Outbreak (hereinafter referred to as the Notice) issued by the Jiangsu Lawyers Association. 

I. Legal assistance is never absent during the special period

1. In the morning of February 17, 2020, lawyer Wei LI applied for meeting with the criminal suspect who was suspected of committing the crime of theft and thus was detained in the Detention Center of Nanjing Railway Public Security Division on February 19, under the premise of meeting the requirement of "the meeting for the criminal suspect to sign the Recognizance for Pleading Guilty and Accepting Punishment with the lawyer" in accordance with the Notice. After the approval was obtained, lawyer Wei LI completed the meeting in the afternoon of February 19. 

2. On February 19, 2020, on the premise of meeting the requirements of the Notice, lawyer Jia YU applied to meet the criminal suspect who was suspected of counterfeiting registered trademark and was thus detained in one of the detention centers in Nanjing on February 24. The application is under review and approval currently.

II. Litigation rights and interests are fully guaranteed during the special period

1. On February 14, 2020, lawyer Shaoxi DING was entrusted to apply for meeting with the criminal suspect who was suspected of permitting prostitution and was thus detained in the Detention Center of Jiangning District, Nanjing on February 20, on the condition that the requirement for the “first meeting after the case was transferred for examination of prosecution” as required by the Notice was met. After approval, lawyer Shaoxi DING completed the meeting one day in advance in the afternoon of February 19. 

2. On February 14, 2020, lawyers Xiang CAI and Fan LIU were entrusted to apply to meeting with a criminal suspect detained in the Nanjing No.3 Detention Center for being suspected of selling goods with counterfeited registered trademark on February 17, on the premise of meeting the requirement of the Notice for the “first meeting with the lawyer after the criminal suspect was detained, and a meeting within the period (7 days) when the case is submitted for review of custody necessities”. After review, the meeting of lawyers Xiang CAI and Fan LIU with the criminal suspect was arranged in the morning of February 21, as they need to wait to meet the condition that the criminal suspect has been detained in the detention center for 15 days.

3. On February 17, lawyer Ruxiang LIU was entrusted to apply for meeting with the criminal suspect who was suspected of committing crime of contract fraud and thus was detained at Nanjing No. 1 Detention Center on February 20, under the premise of meeting the requirement of the Notice for “the first meeting after the case was transferred for examination of prosecution”. After approval, Lawyer Ruxiang LIU completed the meeting in the afternoon of February 20.

The measures for epidemic prevention and control shall also be indispensable besides more strict review and approval procedures for the meeting of lawyers with the criminal suspects amid NCP outbreak: lawyers shall wear facemasks, disposable gloves and shoe covers all the way, accept the body temperature measurement and go through the disinfection passage, etc. In addition, the handrails within the meeting room shall be covered with transparent membranes, which cannot be touched during the meeting to avoid damage. The criminal suspect and the defendant to engage in the meeting shall also be asked to wear facemasks and disposable gloves. The written materials that need to be signed and stamped with the seals of the criminal suspect and the defendant shall be submitted to the reception police at the front desk to be transferred to the detained to sign and stamp seals. The preventive measures against the epidemic of all detention centers are evidently quite strict. With strict meeting review and approval procedures, specific conditions for permission of meetings, and limited meeting times, our criminal defense lawyers all treat the meeting seriously and treasure the meeting opportunities, try our best to make various preparations prior to the meeting, make detailed record of file review, set forth the meeting outline, and prepare the electronic meeting record well, to solve as many problems as possible in a limited meeting period to achieve effective defense. With the coming of the spring, is the time of removing the facemasks to embrace a bloomy spring far for people who are now trying to make progress under the pressure of the epidemic?