The Rights Practice has been reviewing the draft revisions to China’s Criminal Procedure Law. In a new brief we highlight the introduction of expedited procedures, the impact of the Supervision Law on the role of the procuratorate and trials in absentia. We note the lack of clarity over the role of ‘duty lawyers’: rather than facilitating prompt access to a lawyer for those held in detention centres, the law seems to envisage a new category of lawyer with fewer privileges than defence lawyers or legal aid lawyers. This is a worrying precedent. We are also concerned by several measures relating to the new expedited procedures. At the heart of this process is the concept of ‘admission of guilt and accepting punishment’ (renzui renfa 认罪认罚). The fairness of this measure will hinge on the voluntariness of the admission, yet there are no guarantees that the suspect will have the right to effective and confidential legal advice.