2026 Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Award Bestowed to Zhang Kai and Yu Kai
Today, on the eleventh anniversary of the “709 Crackdown,” HRIC and six other organizations jointly presented the 2026 Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Award. As in previous years, we solicited nominations from within the community of Chinese human rights lawyers; this year, 45 lawyers participated in the nomination process, putting forward more than a dozen candidates. After tallying the votes, the organizers selected this year’s two recipients: Lawyer Zhang Kai and Lawyer Yu Kai.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to them.
After passing the National Judicial Examination in 2003, Lawyer Zhang Kai initially practiced corporate law. In 2006, he began working on public interest litigation and human rights cases, becoming one of the earliest rights-defense lawyers. He once remarked, “Ninety percent of the cases I handle are cases of injustice,” a statement that simply yet precisely encapsulates the values and life choices of a Chinese lawyer.
Following the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal, Lawyer Zhang Kai served on a legal aid team, representing victims in a class-action civil lawsuit. He has also provided anti-discrimination legal support to people living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B, and has represented farmers in cases concerning land rights. A family planning case he handled in 2012 drew widespread international attention to the brutal realities of China’s compulsory family planning policies.
In 2010, during the high-profile “My Father is Li Gang” hit-and-run case, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice pressured the law firm where Zhang Kai worked, forcing the termination of his representation in the case. Shortly thereafter, he was surrounded and beaten by unidentified individuals on the streets of Beijing.
As both a lawyer and a member of a Chinese house church, Zhang Kai has emerged over the past decade as a key leader in legal cases involving Christian communities. He has represented many of these cases across multiple provinces and has led rights-defense efforts to safeguard religious freedom. In 2014, when the Zhejiang provincial government launched a massive campaign of forced church cross demolitions, Zhang Kai spent nearly a year in Wenzhou living and working alongside local churches. He organized a “legal team to defend the crosses” and compiled a practical legal handbook to help churches utilize administrative law to safeguard their legitimate rights and property.
As a result of these efforts, Zhang Kai was detained by the authorities on August 25, 2015. During the ensuing seven months of imprisonment, he was subjected to mental and physical torture and forced to give a public “confession” on television.
In August 2016, while released on bail pending trial, Zhang Kai was compelled to publicly express support for the authorities’ prosecution of the “709 Crackdown” lawyers. However, a few days later, he issued a formal statement on Weibo retracting his remarks, explaining that they had been “forced statements made against his conscience” under duress, and asked for forgiveness from his colleagues and the public.
After authorities subsequently blocked the annual renewal of his practicing license, Zhang Kai devoted more energy to public writing. In July 2018, following China’s tainted vaccine scandal, he published an article titled “We Are All in the Same Boat,” which garnered tens of millions of views. He then used a million yuan in reader donations to establish the “Responsibility and Rule of Law Fund,” providing legal aid to ordinary citizens unable to afford legal counsel.
A few years later, after resuming his legal practice, Zhang Kai continued to represent clients in numerous cases involving political prisoners, religious freedom issues, and wrongful convictions.
In October 2025, Chinese authorities arrested 18 pastoral staff members from Beijing Zion Church. Zhang Kai served as defense counsel for Senior Pastor Jin Mingri and faced various forms of pressure and harassment as a result.
In January 2026, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice permanently revoked Zhang Kai’s license to practice law, citing “disruption of courtroom order” in an unrelated case. Simultaneously, the authorities suspended the licenses of several other lawyers on the Zion Church defense team for six months and forcibly shut down the Beijing Kaimen Law Firm, where Zhang Kai served as director.
In the span of just over twenty years since the emergence of the human rights lawyer community in China, authorities have cancelled or revoked the licenses of more than 70 such lawyers—a staggering figure—with Zhang Kai being the latest example. This once again demonstrates that the authoritarian system in China does not tolerate lawyers fighting for judicial justice, while also reflecting the extraordinary courage and contributions of China’s human rights lawyers. They have been, and continue to be, authors of a significant chapter in history.
Today, with profound respect, we present the 2026 China Human Rights Lawyer Award to Attorney Zhang Kai.
Congratulations!
The other recipient of the 2026 China Human Rights Lawyer Award is Attorney Yu Kai.
Attorney Yu Kai is the Director of the Xiaolin Law Firm in Qingdao, Shandong Province. For over two decades, he has steadfastly utilized legal avenues—including litigation, administrative reconsideration, administrative appeals, and legislative proposals—to oversee government compliance with the law and to defend the fundamental rights of citizens. As a practicing lawyer, Yu Kai employs legal statutes and procedural rules to vigorously advocate for clients facing the overreach of administrative and judicial power, upholding the dignity of the law with professionalism.
In 2020, upon discovering in a court judgment that the then-president of the Qingdao Lawyers Association was implicated in bribery yet had never been held accountable, he chose to publicly report the matter. He stated, “With seven thousand lawyers in Qingdao, it is a disgrace to have someone with a record of bribery serving as president.” Three years later, the president was finally forced to resign.
In June 2023, while representing human rights defender Li Qiaochu, Yu Kai withdrew from the courtroom in protest against severe procedural violations; specifically, the court’s unlawful refusal to allow co-counsel to appear and its dismissal of all procedural motions. He refused to participate in an unjust trial, declaring, “We will leave our ‘evidence for the record’—not of the courtroom, but of history.” This statement stands as a testament to the commitment of Chinese rights-defense lawyers to procedural justice.
Attorney Yu Kai does not merely handle individual cases; he actively advocates for systemic reform. For a long time, the “crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble”—a “catch-all” offense frequently subject to abuse—has served as a key legal tool for suppressing dissidents, rights-defending citizens, independent journalists, whistleblowers, and ordinary petitioners. In 2023 and 2025, Yu Kai and his colleagues from the Xiaolin Law Firm submitted legislative proposals to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, calling for the abolition of this specific criminal charge. Citing the principle of “no crime without law” (nullum crimen sine lege), they systematically argued that the charge was vaguely defined and overly broad in application, thereby infringing upon citizens’ freedom of speech and undermining the credibility of China’s criminal law system.
In January 2024, when young trainee lawyer Zhang Wenpeng faced prolonged delays in his application to practice law after publicly criticizing the state-run lawyers’ association, Yu Kai publicly voiced his support. He wrote to the Shandong Provincial Department of Justice, urging them to safeguard lawyers’ rights to practice in accordance with the law. In February 2026, when Zhang Wenpeng, who had been arrested on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” stood trial, Yu Kai traveled to Sanya, Hainan, to show his support. When the court barred observers from the courtroom in an attempt to conduct a secret trial, Yu Kai expressed his indignation and protest by slamming his lawyer’s license card onto the ground and stomping on it forcefully.
His steadfast adherence to principle invited retaliation from the authorities.
In July 2024, due to his proposal to abolish the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Justice imposed an administrative penalty on Yu Kai, suspending his license to practice for one year on the grounds of “improperly sensationalizing cases.” It also ordered the Xiaolin Law Firm to suspend operations for six months for “rectification.”
After the suspension period ended, Yu Kai did not choose silence. In addition to once again proposing to the National People’s Congress that the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” be abolished, he traveled to Beijing on March 26, 2026. Outside the Ministry of Justice building, he publicly submitted a formal petition calling for the abolition of the “control and monitoring of key lawyers” system, which targets rights-defending lawyers; the removal of administrative restrictions such as the annual inspection of legal practice licenses; and the promotion of genuine industry self-governance for lawyers’ associations.
He was taken into custody by the police that same day, and on the following day, March 27, he was placed under criminal detention. Although he was released after one month of confinement, he did not regain his freedom; the threat of criminal prosecution remained, and his personal liberty continues to be strictly restricted to this day.
The sustained suppression Yu Kai has faced underscores the significant impact of his commitment to the rule of law. The fact that a lawyer is penalized simply for insisting on practicing in accordance with the law, upholding constitutional principles, and challenging unlawful administrative actions serves as a profound reflection of the current state of the rule of law in China.
We commend Lawyer Yu Kai for his courage, professionalism, and unwavering belief in the rule of law. He reminds us that a true lawyer does not merely uphold the law in the courtroom but steadfastly defends the law itself when it is being trampled upon.
In recognition of his long-standing contributions to professional ethics and institutional reform within the legal profession, it is with deep respect that we present the 2026 “Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Award” to Lawyer Yu Kai.
Thank you all.
【张凯、于凯获2026年中国人权律师奖颁奖辞】
今天，在我们共同纪念"709大抓捕"十一周年之际，我代表七个主办机构颁发中国人权律师奖。像往年一样，我们在中国人权律师群体中征求提名，今年有多达45位中国律师参与提名，被提名的律师有十多位之多。主办方在统计提名票数后，遴选出今年的两位获奖者。
他们是：张凯律师和于凯律师。
祝贺他们！
张凯律师2003年通过国家司法考试后，最初从事公司法业务。2006年，他开始从事公益诉讼和人权案件，成为最早的维权律师之一。他曾经说，"我做的案件90%都是冤案"，这句话简单而精确地表达了一个中国律师的价值取向和人生选择。
2008年爆发三聚氰胺毒奶粉事件后，张凯律师是法律援助团成员之一，代理受害人提起集体民事诉讼。他曾为艾滋病人、乙肝感染者提供反歧视法律支持；也曾代理农民，在土地权益案件中为他们提供辩护。2012年他代理的一起计划生育案，使中国强制计划生育政策的残酷现实受到国际社会广泛关注。
2010年，在备受关注的公共事件"我爸是李刚"交通肇事案中，北京市司法局向张凯所在的律师事务所施压，导致其代理资格被迫终止。不久后，他在北京街头遭身份不明者围堵和殴打。
作为一名律师，同时作为中国家庭教会的一员，张凯过去十多年成为基督教教案中的重要引领者，在多省多地代理众多教案，并带领教会维权，捍卫宗教自由。2014年，浙江省政府发起大规模强拆教堂十字架运动，张凯在温州居留近一年，与当地教会共同生活、共同工作，组织"护十字律师团"，并编写实用法律手册，帮助教会运用行政法维护合法权益和教会财产。
因为这些努力，2015年8月25日张凯遭到当局拘押。在随后长达七个月的监禁期间，他遭受了精神和身体上的酷刑，并被迫在电视上公开"认罪"。
2016年8月，在取保候审期间，张凯被迫公开发表支持当局审判709律师的言论。但是几天后，他在微博发表正式声明，撤回自己的言论，表示他的言论是在恐惧之下被迫作出的"违心表达"，并请求同仁和社会的原谅。
由于当局随后阻止其完成律师执业年检，张凯将更多精力投入公共写作。2018年7月，中国发生毒疫苗事件后，他发表《我们都在同一条船上》一文，引发数千万次阅读。他随后用读者打赏的一百万元人民币成立"责任法治建设基金"，资助无力聘请律师的普通民众获得法律援助。
几年前，张凯恢复执业后，继续代理多起政治犯案件、教案、和冤假错案。
2025年10月，中国当局抓捕了北京锡安教会18名教牧人员，张凯担任主任牧师金明日的辩护律师，遭到各种施压和骚扰。
2026年1月，北京市司法局以他在另一案件中"扰乱法庭秩序"为由，永久吊销了他的律师执业证，同时暂停锡安律师团队多名代理律师执业六个月，并强制关闭张凯担任主任的北京凯门律师事务所。
在维权律师这个群体出现的短短二十余年里，中国当局已经注销和吊销了多达70多名维权律师的执业证，令人触目惊心，张凯律师是最新的一例。这再次证明专制制度下的中国不容忍律师为司法正义而抗争，也反映出中国人权律师这个群体非凡的勇气和贡献。他们一直在、仍然在谱写历史中重要的一章。
我们今天怀着崇高的敬意，将2026年度中国人权律师奖授予张凯律师。
祝贺！
***
2026年度"中国人权律师奖"另一位获奖者是于凯律师。
祝贺！
于凯律师是山东青岛晓临律师事务所主任。二十多年来，他坚持运用法律手段，通过诉讼、行政复议、行政申诉以及立法建议等方式，监督政府依法行政，捍卫公民依法享有的基本权利。作为执业律师，于凯运用法律条文和程序规则，为身处行政权力和司法越权之下的当事人据理力争，以专业精神捍卫法律尊严。
2020年，他从一份法院判决中发现，时任青岛律协会长涉嫌行贿却从未被追究，他选择公开举报。他说："青岛有七千名律师，由一个有行贿污点的人担任会长，是很丢脸的事情。" 三年后，该会长终于被迫辞职。
2023年6月，在人权捍卫者李翘楚案中，面对法院违法拒绝共同辩护律师出庭，并驳回所有程序性申请，于凯退出法庭，以抗议严重的程序违法行为，拒绝配合一场不公正的审判。他说："我们将留下'呈堂供证'，不是在法庭上，而是在历史上。" 这句话成为中国维权律师坚持程序正义的见证之一。
于凯律师不仅代理个案，更积极推动制度改革。长期以来，"寻衅滋事罪"这一长期被广泛滥用的"口袋罪"，成为打压异议人士、维权公民、独立记者、吹哨人和普通上访者的重要法律工具。2023年以及2025年，于凯与晓临律师事务所同事先后向全国人大常委会法制工委提交立法建议，呼吁废除这一罪名。他们依据罪刑法定原则，系统论证这一罪名定义模糊、适用宽泛，侵蚀公民言论自由，损害中国刑法本身的公信力。
2024年1月，当年轻的实习律师张文鹏因公开批评官办律师协会而长期无法完成执业申请时，于凯公开给予支持，并致信山东省司法厅，呼吁依法保障律师依法执业的权利。2026年2月，涉嫌"寻衅滋事"而被捕的张文鹏开庭，于凯前往海南三亚声援。法庭禁止旁听者进入法庭，试图进行秘密审判，于凯愤怒地将律师证狠狠摔在地上，又狠狠地跺了两脚，表达不满和抗议。
对原则的坚持，导致他招致当局的报复。
2024年7月，因为建议废除"寻衅滋事"罪，青岛市司法局以所谓"违规炒作案件"为由，对于凯作出停止执业一年的行政处罚，并责令晓临律师事务所停业整顿六个月。
停业期满后，于凯没有选择沉默，除了再次向人大建议废除"寻衅滋事罪"外，2026年3月26日，他前往北京，在司法部大楼前公开递交《情况反映书》，要求废除针对维权律师的"重点管控律师"制度，取消律师执业年检等行政限制，并推动律师协会真正实现行业自治。
当天，他被警察带走关押，第二天，即3月27日，他被刑事拘留。他在被关押一个月后获得释放，但他并没有获得自由，刑事追诉的威胁依然存在，他的人身自由至今仍受到严格限制。
对于凯的持续打压，说明了他坚持法治原则所具有的影响力。当一位律师仅仅因为坚持依法执业、维护宪法原则、挑战违法行政而遭到惩罚，这本身就是中国法治现状最深刻的写照。
我们褒奖于凯律师的勇气、专业精神和对法治的坚定信念。他提醒我们，真正的律师，不仅是在法庭上维护法律，更是在法律遭到践踏的时候，坚持捍卫法律本身。
鉴于于凯律师长期以来对律师职业操守、制度改革所作出的贡献，我们怀着崇高的敬意，将2026年度"中国人权律师奖"授予于凯律师。
谢谢大家。