According to the requirement of the Decision of the 4^th Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC Central Committee, governmental counselor-at-law system will be energetically implemented to guarantee counselors-at-law’s active role in major administrative decision and law-based administration. In order to streamline the governmental counselor-at-law related work, boost law-based administration and build a law-based government, Regulations on Guangdong Governmental Counselor-at-law Related Work (the Regulations hereinafter) will come into force as of April 1. Guangdong will be the first province that streamline the work through legislation. Experts, lawyers and other external human resources will be frequently involved in the legal affairs of governments of all levels in Guangdong. 

 

According to the Regulations, governmental counselor-at-law system will be established in governments of all levels, and the counselor-at-law institutions of the same level will undertake the specific work. Governmental counselors-at-law will mainly consists of personnel from legal institutions and departments of people’s governments of all levels, experts and lawyers. The chief governmental counselors-at-law will be main director of the legal institution of the people’s government at the same level.

 

Governmental counselors-at-law will offer services from seven aspects, such as offering legal opinions for major administrative decisions and actions, offering legal opinions for governmental legislation and formulation and review of specification documents, acting as agency for administrative reconsideration, lawsuits, arbitration, implementation and other non-lawsuit legal affairs, attending negotiation of major projects and helping the drafting, amending and reviewing of important documents of law, reviewing major contracts with the government or its department as a party, taking part in the handling of major sudden and group incidents involving legal affairs, and dealing with other issues requiring the participation of governmental counselors-at-law.

 

Resource: Guangzhou Daily, March 2, 2015