(k)The power to order or approve arrest and supervision of the police and detention facilities of the procurators should be transferred to independent courts Steps taken in previous years Situation in during visit in 2005 (See A/HRC/4/33/Add.2, A/HRC/7/3/Add.2, (See E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6) A/HRC/10/44/Add.5 and A/HRC/16/52/Add.2) authorities, seriously compromising judicial independence. There is no provision under Chinese law for individuals to be brought promptly before an independent judicial authority to assess the lawfulness of the detention. Decisions over an extension of custody and pretrial detention rested with the Public Procuratorate. l) Art. 306 of the Criminal Together with art. 38 of the Law, according to which any CPL, which made ―interfering lawyer who counsels a client with the proceedings before to repudiate a forced judicial organs‖ an offence, confession, for example, article 306 of the CL could be could risk prosecution, invoked to harass, intimidate should be abolished. and sanction lawyers. Non-governmental sources 2009: It is reported that the unconditional right of confidential access to a lawyer after initial interrogation (Lawyers Law) makes an exception for cases involving State secrets. The law contradicts the broad restrictions of legal counsel in the CPL. It is alleged that the vague concept of State Secret was used extensively and arbitrarily to deny access to legal representation, access to case files and to hold trials in camera. Non-governmental sources 2008: Reportedly, the Public Procuratorate remains in charge of decisions over extending police custody and pre-trial detention. Non-governmental sources: Art. 37 was added to the newly amended Lawyers Law stating that lawyers are not legally responsible when acting on behalf of their clients or speaking for a defendant. Reportedly, this does not apply to lawyers ―whose speech endangers the national security, or who maliciously slanders others and seriously disturbs the order of the court‖. It is reported that Art. 306 CL and 38 CPL continue to be used to intimidate lawyers and impede their efforts to defend clients and take on sensitive cases. - The repression and harassment of lawyers who take on ―sensitive‖ cases has reportedly increased. In May 09, 18 lawyers, handling some of the most important human rights cases in 2008, lost their licenses. By the end of August, six cases of attacks on lawyers or their involvement in ―accidents‖ were reported. Several Information received in the reporting period A/HRC/19/61/Add.3 18 Recommendation (E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6)