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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2023
The legal professions in Asia are a plural concept. Many Asian countries are civil law jurisdictions in which lawyers, judges, and prosecutors are separately licensed. Even in common law jurisdictions, lawyers rarely are a homogeneous group. Moreover, there are paralegal or unauthorized occupational groups that parallel the profession of lawyers. The meaning of being a “lawyer” in Asia, therefore, is often more complex and controversial than in North American or European contexts. The different types of legal professions range from barristers and solicitors in Hong Kong and unified legal professions in other former British colonies, to Continental-style judges and prosecutors in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, Soviet-style “iron triangles” of police, procurators, and judges in China and Central Asia, and to unlicensed “barefoot” lawyers across the continent. This chapter provides an overview of the plurality of legal professions and their demographic and sociological characteristics. It goes on to highlight the legal service market, demonstrating the connections between lawyers and different kinds of clients and practice areas, and the interactions between the legal professions, judicial system, and state. The chapter concludes with readings on the role of lawyers in transforming the state—and the impact of state transformations on lawyers themselves.
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