Chinese lawyers contribute tremendous legal expertise to battle against virus

Lawyers across China have been playing a critical role in ensuring that the ongoing epidemic prevention and control is carried out on a solid legal basis.

After the novel coronavirus outbreak, lawyers in Shanghai, organized by the local lawyers' association, presented the municipal government with a roughly 30,000 character-long compilation of laws and regulations on epidemic prevention and control within just a few days. 

Ranging from information disclosure and price supervision to property expropriation and traffic control, the compilation offers comprehensive legal guidance to the government.

Likewise, lawyers in other provinces and cities including Jilin, Shaanxi and Tianjin also promptly collected all the legal provisions on epidemic control, guiding local governments in carrying out their work in a law-based manner.

Apart from combing through legal provisions, lawyers also actively provide legal consultation for both the government and the public as well.

Lawyers in Yushu in northwestern province of Qinghai, for instance, voluntarily assisted the local government in its property expropriation work, properly relocating 16 elderly people who were displaced because of epidemic control.

Lawyers in Shanghai, meanwhile established as many as 36 special teams to provide the government, residents and enterprises with all-round legal services. So far, they have published nearly 300 professional articles on law-based epidemic prevention and control, and submitted some 50 legal proposals to the government.

In North China's Hebei province and the Inner-Mongolia autonomous region, lawyers set up specialized legal service teams to advise local governments on legal issues related to the fight against the virus.

Chinese lawyers also focus on enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, which are faced with a range of legal issues as a result of temporary shutdowns amid the virus outbreak.

Lawyers in Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu, established an online advisory group of 38 lawyers on the social messaging app WeChat, providing legal advice for enterprises on a regular basis.

Steps like this epitomize the broader effort made by lawyers across Jiangsu to help enterprises cope with the epidemic. The legal professionals also draw up practical measures that address such specific matters as labor, foreign trade and shipbuilding that are of particular concern to enterprises in the coastal province.

Lawyers in Hebei province launched a legal counseling tour, using phone calls, WeChat and emails to advise those enterprises that have resumed operation. They also comb through and compile legal provisions concerning SMEs.

In addition to addressing shared legal issues, lawyers in Shanghai also delve into industry-specific matters like refunds of service fees by travel agencies, in a bid to help enterprises in a more targeted manner.