Procurators in Beijing's Haidian District are obliged to notify people of legal rights like when and how to apply for help from lawyers during criminal investigations under new rules that took effect this week.

The rules, put into practice by the Haidian People's Procuratorate on Monday, state clearly that procurators should notify both suspects and victims of their legal rights in criminal cases. They must also explain these rights and record the situation in which the explanations were given if the suspect or victim is unable to understand the legal terms.

The procuratorate received help in drafting the rules from both local experts and scholars visiting from the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Criminal suspects have the right to legal aid and counsel, to apply for the withdrawal of charges, to apply for expert re-evaluation and to make complaints. Victims have the right to authorize an agent and to file an incidental civil lawsuit.

Whether or not they are aware of these rights is another matter.

Zhang Jifeng, director of the procuratorate's research office, said the new rules would help protect the rights of people involved in litigation. He said many people are not aware of their legal rights.

He said roughly 70 per cent of criminal suspects coming before the procuratorate had only a junior or primary school education, and few of them were aware of their rights.

"What's the point of spelling out legal rights without telling people that they have them?" Zhang said. "In any case, explaining these rights is necessary because some people might not understand the legal terms that are used."

The Criminal Procedure Law does not make it clear that procurators are obliged to tell suspects about their rights. The law only says that suspects should be told they can hire lawyers.

The law is silent on how procurators should inform people of their rights or whether they face any consequences for failing to do so.

Zhang said that according to standard international practice, if suspects have not been informed of their rights, any evidence collected by investigators would be considered inadmissible in court.