The case-handling agency does not issue a receipt [public security investigation stage]

When a lawyer files a complaint on behalf of a client, he or she must submit evidence proving the facts of the case and the defendant's alleged crime to the agency receiving the case. When lawyers perform defense work, they sometimes need to submit to the case-handling agency self-collected evidence proving the defendant's innocence or misdemeanor.

In order to verify the authenticity of the evidence, the investigators will ask the lawyer to provide the original evidence. These evidence materials, especially originals such as transaction contracts, invoices and receipts, bank vouchers, etc., are often single pieces of evidence. Once lost or destroyed, it is impossible or difficult to recover them.

Therefore, when a lawyer submits the original evidence to the case-handling agency, he must ask the case-handling agency for a receipt indicating "receipt of the original evidence" and other information. The receipt is proof that the lawyer has done his due diligence. More importantly, it can prove the whereabouts of the original materials, avoid lawyer representation disputes due to the loss of materials, and reduce the risk of lawyers being complained. However, in practice, some case-handling agencies accept materials submitted by lawyers but refuse to issue receipts. The "Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" and other laws have clear procedural provisions for the authorities to collect evidence when handling cases, but there are no clear provisions on whether the case-handling authorities need to issue a receipt after collecting materials from lawyers or parties. In order to protect lawyers' rights to practice, Article 15 of the "Regulations on Protecting Lawyers' Rights to Practice in accordance with the Law" clearly stipulates:

If the defense lawyer submits materials related to the case, the case-handling agency shall receive them during working hours and office premises, understand in person the purpose of the materials submitted by the defense lawyer, the source and main content of the materials, and other relevant information, and record them in the case, and attach them together with the relevant materials. volume and issue a receipt.

In practice, when lawyers submit case-related materials to the case-handling agency, they should try their best to submit copies. The originals can be brought to the case-handling agency for verification. If the case-handling agency insists on requiring the lawyer to submit original documents, the lawyer should pay attention to keeping copies of the submitted materials, and require the relevant case-handling personnel to issue a receipt for receiving the materials, listing the names of the submitted materials in detail.

If the case-handling agency refuses to issue a receipt, the lawyer should evaluate the relevant risks. If the original document is not required, the lawyer should insist on submitting a copy. If after evaluation it is believed that the original evidence should be submitted, FasterLawyer recommends that the relevant lawyer should ask the client or family member to be present and obtain their consent before submitting, and at the same time use audio and video recordings and other forms to prove the fact that the original evidence is submitted.