The Beijing judicial authorities are blocking more than 20 of China’s most prominent civil rights lawyers from renewing their licences to practise, campaigning group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported.

HRW says the lawyers have angered the authorities by acting in high-profile cases that included representing the parents of children killed in the Sichuan earthquake (pictured). Some of them also acted in the melamine milk powder scandal and for Tibetans arrested for protesting against the Chinese occupation.

There are no government-enforced safeguards to protect lawyers discharging their duties and the All China Lawyers Association – the country’s bar association – is government-controlled.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at HRW, said: ‘Interference and retaliation against lawyers are direct attacks on the rule of law. Such actions negate the [Chinese] government’s commitment to governing the country according to law.’

A spokesman for the Law Society said the basis of any legal system must be to ensure access to justice. ‘The Society is working with China's legal sector to ensure greater co-operation between the UK and China, which can only help further highlight the importance to the economy of continuity and stability in China's legal services.’