Notarisation is not a legal precondition to appointing a defence lawyer. Treating it as one is the most expensive delay in the first week.
The parents are in Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Thailand or Pakistan. Anywhere but China. They cannot get through on the phone, cannot see him, and do not know a single rule of the system holding him. The instinct is that there is nothing to be done from that distance. The law says otherwise: a detained suspect cannot appoint a lawyer himself, so the people who have to act are precisely the ones outside.
The most important structural fact in a Chinese criminal case is easy to miss from abroad: a person in custody cannot appoint counsel by himself. He has no phone, no access to a list of lawyers, no way to pay one. If nobody outside acts, he is represented by nobody through the stage where most of the damage is done.
The Criminal Procedure Law closes that gap expressly: where a suspect or defendant is in custody, his guardian or a close relative may appoint a defence lawyer on his behalf. In a foreign case, the family overseas is therefore not a spectator waiting for news. It is the only legal channel into the case — and the first thing to arrange, ahead of everything else.
This is where overseas families lose the most time, and it is worth being exact. Somewhere in the first week, someone — a friend, a forum, sometimes a consultant — will say the power of attorney must be notarised and then authenticated before a Chinese lawyer can act. If someone tells you it is always required, ask which rule they are relying on. For the appointment itself, it usually is not.
The working route is much shorter than the myth: the lawyer drafts the power of attorney in the form the detention house and the firm will accept, sends it to you, you sign it, return a scan the same day so the visit can be booked, and courier the original. In most cases that is enough to get a lawyer in front of the client inside 48 hours — which is the only thing that matters in the first week.
Two qualifications, because the opposite error is just as expensive:
An embassy or consulate can, in principle, appoint a lawyer for its detained national. In practice, choosing and vouching for counsel is not its function, and most posts will hand the family a list and tell them to choose. That is not obstruction; it is the boundary of the role.
Notification is not representation. The consulate can request a visit, and can pass messages. It does not read the case file, does not appear in court, does not advise on the defence, and cannot secure a release. For what it can and cannot do in detail, see can the consulate help? and your Article 36 notification right.
There is exactly one point at which a family member can lawfully get in front of the defendant, and it is not during the investigation. Once the case reaches trial, a close relative may apply to the court for a meeting; the court decides, and will approve where it considers the visit will not interfere with the trial. An open hearing can also be attended as a member of the public.
Before trial, the answer is no — which is why the lawyer's visit is not a substitute for the family's, it is the only channel that exists. On where the person is held and what else can be sent in, see where detainees are held.
Criminal cases in China run on statutory clocks, and none of them pause for a family deciding what to do. After arrest, investigation is typically two months and can be extended. Prosecution review is generally one month, extendable by half. Inside the first stage, the detention house must arrange the lawyer's first meeting within 48 hours of the request, and the arrest-approval review completes inside seven days.
Those two numbers — 48 hours and seven days — are where a family abroad can still change the outcome. After the arrest decision, the case has a shape, and the arguments shift from prevention to mitigation. The full schedule is set out in how long a foreign-related case takes and day 3, 7, 30 and 37.
What follows from all of this is a short list. Appoint a Chinese-licensed lawyer first — the requirement is a lawyer practising at a Chinese law firm, and nothing else satisfies it (how to screen one). Have the power of attorney signed and scanned the same day. Let the consulate know, without waiting for the consulate to act. Decide separately whether a flight is worth it — see should you fly to China?. You do not have to be in China for the three stages; someone competent does.
"He's been detained in China. His parents are in Russia, the US, Canada, Australia, Thailand or Pakistan — anywhere but not in China. You can't get through on the phone. You can't see him. You don't know a single rule. You feel like there's nothing you can do.
But there's a lot you can do. The main thing: let him know you haven't given up on him. Someone in custody can't get out and hire a lawyer on their own. His guardian or close relatives can appoint a lawyer for him. Does the power of attorney need to be notarised and authenticated? If someone tells you it's always required, that's not how it works. That's the long way around. And when his life and his freedom are on the line, can you afford to wait?
Think about him inside. Every day feels like a year, and he's a foreigner — he can't follow what's being said. He sleeps badly, he can't get used to the food. It's even harder on him, and he has to get up in the middle of the night for duty. A few more days of that would drive him crazy.
Criminal cases have legal time limits. The investigation has its own deadline. Prosecution review generally takes one to one and a half months, and so on. These limits are set by law. If you can get a lawyer in, so much the better — someone to keep an eye on the authorities, so nothing slips.
One thing to be clear about: the lawyer has to be a Chinese lawyer practising at a Chinese law firm. That's a hard requirement under Chinese law. His country's embassy or consulate in China can appoint a lawyer for him directly — but whether that lawyer is good, whether they meet your expectations, that's what families care about and it isn't an embassy's main job. Which is why most embassies and consulates will simply tell you to find your own lawyer.
The second thing: let his country's embassy or consulate know about the case. That's not the same as hiring a lawyer. An embassy or consulate can't defend him. It doesn't read the file, doesn't appear in court, doesn't give him legal advice. That's a lawyer's job. But it can at least request a visit.
Third, apply to see him. Once the case reaches trial, as a close relative, you can apply to the court for a visit. If the court finds it won't interfere with the trial, it can approve. So having family abroad does come with real obstacles — but every one of them has a way through. The main thing: find him a good, reliable lawyer. That's the biggest help you can give him, and you don't have to fly to China and stay through all three stages."