China - August 2026

On 28 August, China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee adopted amendments to the Lawyers Law, which entered into force on 1 September. The amendments introduce explicit requirements for legal professionals to uphold Chinese Communist Party (CPP) leadership and implement Party and state policies. The amendments also require law firms to establish internal CPP branches, while making support for CPP leadership and the ‘socialist rule of law’ a condition for becoming a lawyer. Rights groups and legal experts argued that the amendments strengthen political control of the legal profession and may further increase pressure and restrict the independence of lawyers handling human rights and other politically sensitive cases. The reforms create a statutory basis for CPP oversight of lawyers and law firms, potentially influencing licensing, law-firm management, and the provision of legal advice and representation.

Sources: NPC Observer, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, National People’s Congress of China