Longgang District People's Court has accepted lawyer Zhou Litai's case and will begin a hearing as soon as possible, court sources said Tuesday.

The move has revived a legal debate on whether lawyers from outside Shenzhen should be allowed to provide legal services in the special economic zone.

On December 19, a circular from the bureau accused Zhou of "violating related laws and regulations" to "provide attorney services illegally."

The bureau circular asked Zhou to "immediately stop illegal attorney activities."

But Zhou said such claims were groundless.

Zhou, director of the Litai Law Firm in Chongqing Municipality, said his legal services in Shenzhen strictly comply with China's Lawyers Law.

According to the 12th article of the Lawyers Law, there is "no regional restriction for attorneys to provide legal services."

Formerly a worker in Kaixian County in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Zhou began to study law on his own in the early 1980s. In 1986, he passed the national attorney qualification exam in Sichuan and has worked as a lawyer ever since.

Since 1996, Zhou - known as a "lawyer for transient workers" - has helped more than 800 workers involved in labor disputes or work injuries to claim their rights in Shenzhen.

In August last year, Zhou represented 56 women workers in a South Korean-owned wig factory in Shenzhen. He sued the company because the company had carried out what he said were illegal body searches. The company eventually reached an out-of-court settlement with the 56 plaintiffs.

Longgang District Bureau of Justice refused to give details of the circular.

Yan Ping, the bureau's assistant director, said by phone: "Since Zhou and ourselves are now two parties in a lawsuit, I don't think it is appropriate that I speak in any detail concerning the legitimacy of the circular. We will leave that to the court."

According to Zhou, the bureau's action is a strong sign of local protectionism in the legal profession in Shenzhen.

Moreover, "some local officials think my existence in Shenzhen is a negative influence on the local economy since I've been helping injured workers claim their rights over the years by suing their employers," said the attorney.

Wu Yuhong, general secretary of the Lawyers Association of Chongqing, said: "So far, we still haven't found any evidence showing Zhou and his law firm had undertaken any illegal operations."

(China Daily January 16, 2002)