The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice recently jointly issued the Opinions on Further Deepening the Pilot Work of Full Coverage of Lawyers' Defense in Criminal Cases (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). Adhering to the people centered development idea, the Opinions is another important measure to deepen the comprehensive supporting reform of the judicial system, promote social fairness and justice, and strengthen judicial protection of human rights. The Opinions pointed out that in October 2017, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice deployed in eight provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) including Beijing to carry out the pilot work of full coverage of lawyers' defense in the trial stage of criminal cases. In December 2018, the two departments issued a notice to expand the pilot work to the whole country, realizing full coverage of criminal defense and legal assistance at the trial stage. Since the pilot work was carried out, all localities have strengthened the overall planning, straightened out the communication and cohesion mechanism, and strengthened the quality supervision of legal aid, which has achieved positive results. Up to now, 2594 counties (cities and districts) nationwide have carried out the pilot work of full coverage of lawyers' defense in criminal cases at the trial stage, accounting for more than 90% of the total number of county-level administrative regions. In 2021, for example, more than 320000 legal aid cases were added due to the pilot program, accounting for 63.6% of the total number of criminal legal aid cases at the trial stage. More than 550000 cases were provided with legal assistance by the trial shift lawyers. The defense rate of criminal lawyers was significantly increased, and the judicial protection of the human rights of criminal defendants was further enhanced. However, the pilot work exposed problems such as uneven lawyer resources, insufficient fund guarantee, and poor work cohesion. In particular, the extensive application of the leniency system of pleading guilty, pleading guilty, and punishment also put forward higher requirements for lawyers to defend and lawyers on duty to provide legal assistance during the review and prosecution stage. It is necessary to further deepen the pilot work. The Opinions stressed that it is necessary to fully understand the significance of the pilot work of deepening the full coverage of lawyers' defense in criminal cases. Deepening the pilot work is an inevitable requirement for the implementation of the people centered development thought in the criminal justice field; It is the internal demand for implementing the Law on Legal Aid, further expanding the scope of criminal legal aid, and constantly improving the legal aid system; It is an important measure to comprehensively implement the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy, and precisely apply the system of leniency in pleading guilty and punishment. The Opinions require that all judicial departments (bureaus) should carry out the pilot work of full coverage of lawyers' defense in the review and prosecution stage on the basis of consolidating the effectiveness of the pilot work of full coverage of lawyers' defense in criminal cases at the trial stage. The procuratorial organs should determine 2 to 3 prefectures (districts and counties of municipalities directly under the Central Government) to carry out the pilot work by the end of November. If a suspect does not entrust a defender and is likely to be sentenced to more than three years' imprisonment, or if he or his co suspect refuses to plead guilty, or if the circumstances of the case are serious and complicated, or may cause significant social impact, the People's Procuratorate shall notify the legal aid institution to appoint a lawyer to provide defense. Clarify the responsibilities of the defense lawyer in the stage of review and prosecution and in handling cases of confession and punishment, and require the defense lawyer to provide legal assistance to the suspect in the stage of review and prosecution, including legal advice, suggestions on procedure selection, application for changing compulsory measures, and application for review of the necessity of detention. Emphasize the protection of lawyers' right to meet, read papers and other defense rights, and require the People's Procuratorate to return for supplementary investigation