The so-called criminal defense is a series of litigation acts in which the criminal suspect or defendant and his lawyer refute the accusation against him. The right to defense is the most basic and important right enjoyed by the defendant in the criminal proceedings. The criminal defense system，as an important aspect of the criminal procedure system in a country under the rule of law，reflects the conditions of democracy and human rights and is established by the legislation in every country. Moreover，the right of the accused to defense，as one of the basic principles of criminal procedure，has been provided for in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights1609139 and elaborated in the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders，1609140 which becomes a minimum international standards on criminal defend system.

In China，the criminal defense system，as a basic system in criminal proceedings，has been established by the Constitution，the Criminal Procedures Law and the Lawyer’s Law. Especially the new Criminal Procedures Law，which came into force in 1997，marks a further progress in the legislation on criminal defense. However，as is indicated by the low rate of defense by lawyers in court，the criminal defense in China is still far from satisfactory. It can even be said that the environment of criminal defense has deteriorated rather than improved since the adoption of the Law. Why in the process of establishing the rule of law，the criminal defense system is developing towards a direction opposite to that of the modernization of the legal system？What are the problems in China’s criminal defense system and what can we do to solve these problems？This paper will probe into the above issues.