BEIJING - China has issued a regulation on the rights of lawyers.

The regulation was made by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Justice.

The regulation says those organs should respect lawyers, improve their systems to ensure lawyers' rights, and safeguard lawyers' rights to know, the rights of application, petition, and other rights of meeting defendants, reading files, collecting evidence, debating, raising questions and others.

Prisons should allow defence counsels to meet suspects or defendants, or to explain why the meeting cannot be arranged at that time, and ensure that the meeting should be arranged within 48 hours.

Procuratorates and courts should allow defence counsels to read case files, and ensure that case files be read in three working days. The time and frequency of defence counsels in reading case files shall not be limited.

The regulation urges judicial organs to establish and improve related facilities to facilitate lawyers' work.