China's Southern Weekly on December 5, 2015, published an article stating that 'over the past couple of weeks, opinions have suddenly started to form regarding a ranking system that would limit the ability of certain lawyers to appear in court'. It added that reports claim that pilot trials of such a system are set to launch sometime next year. Earlier on August 20, 2015, while addressing the National Lawyers Work Conference the Chairman of the Central Politico-Legal Commission, Meng Jianzhu said, “We can begin looking into a ranking system to govern court appearances for new lawyers who take up criminal defense cases.” Chen Weidong told Southern Weekly that the “Opinion on Deepening Institutional Reform of Lawyers,” passed on September 15 by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, also made clear mention of a ranking system. The full text of that document has not been made public. On November 14, 2015, Professor Chen Weidong of China’s Renmin University Law School spoke on this development at the “Innovation Forum on Legal Services under the New Normal,” sponsored by the Guangzhou Lawyers Association and the Lawyers College at Guangzhou University Law School. His comments quickly sparked heated discussion. The newspaper observed 'The new policy could employ a ranking system to place restrictions on which lawyers can appear in court. Lawyers with limited experience or who lack dedication would not be able to represent clients in major or complex cases, such as those involving the death penalty, and they would not be able to appear before intermediate or higher courts'.