MEASURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES STATIONED IN THE MAINLAND OF CHINA BY LAW FIRMS OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION AND THE MACAO SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
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The Ministry of Justice Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of China No.70 The Measures for the Administration of the Representative Offices Stationed in the Mainland of China by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Minister of the Ministry of Justice Zhang Fuseng March 13, 2002 Measures for the Administration of the Representative Offices Stationed in the Mainland of China by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 In order to regulate the establishment of the representative offices stationed in the mainland of China (hereinafter referred to as Article 2 These Measures shall be applicable to the activities of law firms of Hong Kong and Macao of establishing representative offices and Article 3 The representative offices and the representatives thereof shall be under the protection of the state laws when engaging in legal Article 4 The representative offices and the representatives thereof shall, when engaging in legal services, observe the laws, regulations and Article 5 The law firms of Hong Kong and Macao shall bear civil liabilities for the legal services conducted in the mainland of China by their Chapter II Establishment, Alteration and Cancellation of Representative Offices Article 6 Law firms of Hong Kong and Macao shall obtain the approval of the judicial administrative department under the State Council (hereinafter Law firms, other organizations or individuals of Hong Kong and Macao may not engage in legal services in the name of consultative Article 7 Law firms of Hong Kong and Macao applying for establishing representative offices and sending representatives shall meet the following 1) the law firm shall has already legally practiced in the Hong Kong SAR or the Macao SAR, and hasn’t been punished for violation of 2) the representatives of the representative office shall be practicing lawyers and the members of the lawyers’ association of the Hong 3) there is the actual need to establish representative offices in the mainland of China to carry out legal services. Article 8 Law firms of Hong Kong and Macao applying for establishing representative offices in the mainland shall submit the following documents 1) application form signed by the main principal of the law firm for establishing the representative office and sending representatives. 2) certifications of the legal establishment of that law firm in its respective special administrative region; 3) partnership agreement or articles of association of establishment of that law firm and the list of the principals or partners; 4) authorization letters of that law firm to its representatives of the representative office, and the affirmation letter affirming that 5) certifications of the lawyer practice qualification of the representatives of the representative office which prove that the chief 6) certifications issued by the lawyers’ association of the special administrative region where that law firm is located of the membership 7) certifications issued by the body of lawyer administration of the special administrative region where that law firm is located showing The documents and materials listed in the preceding paragraph shall have the notarization certification given by the authorized notary The documents and materials submitted by that law firm shall be in triplication and be bound into book forms separately, where the Article 9 The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall finish Article 10 The representative office and the representatives thereof shall, taking the practice license and the practice certificates, go through The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall handle Article 11 The representative office shall, according to the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations, go through the procedures Article 12 Where a law firm of Hong Kong or Macao needs to alter the name of its representative office or reduce the representatives, it shall Where the representative office is merged, split or it adds new representatives, it shall go through the procedures for approval according Article 13 Where the representative of a representative office is in any of the following situations, the Ministry of Justice shall revoke the 3) the practice qualification of lawyer submitted according to the provisions of item 5) of Article 8 of these Measures becomes invalid; 4) the qualification of representative is cancelled by the law firm of Hong Kong or Macao to which the representative belongs; 5) the practice certificate or the practice license of the representative office to which the representative belongs is revoked according Article 14 Where a representative office is in any of the following situations, the Ministry of Justice shall cancel the practice approval and 1) the law firm of Hong Kong or Macao to which the representative office belongs is disbanded or written off; 2) the law firm of Hong Kong or Macao to which the representative office belongs applies for the writing-off of it; 3) having lost the conditions as prescribed in Article 7 of these Measures; 4) the practice license has been revoked according to law. The representative office written off according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be liquidated according to law; Chapter III Business Scope and Rules Article 15 A representative office and its representatives may only engage in the following activities excluding the legal affaires of the mainland 1) providing to the parties with the legal consultancy and the consultancy of relevant international treaties and international customs 2) accepting the entrustment of the parties or the law firms of the mainland of China to handle the legal affaires of the areas where 3) representing the parties of the Hong Kong SAR or the Macao SAR to entrust law firms of the mainland of China to handle legal affaires 4) keeping long term of entrustment with the law firms of the mainland of China to handle legal affaires through signing contracts; 5) providing the information related to the affection of the legal environment of the mainland of China. The representative office may, according to the terms of the agreement with the law firms of the mainland of China, present direct The representative office and the representatives thereof may not engage in other legal services or other business activities other Article 16 A representative office may not employ the practicing lawyers of the mainland of China; and the assisting personnel employed may not Article 17 A representative office and its representatives may not conduct the following acts in their practice: 1) providing false evidence, hiding the facts or threatening, luring others to provide false evidence, hide the facts, and hindering 2) taking advantage of the legal services to accept money and goods or other benefits from the parties; 3) disclosing the business secrets or personal privacy of the parties. Article 18 The representatives of a representative office may not hold the post or hold the concurrent post of representative in two or more Article 19 The time of the representatives of a representative office residing in the mainland of China may not be less than 6 months every year; Article 20 A representative office may collect fees from the parties when providing the legal services as prescribed by these Measures. And the Chapter IV Supervision and Administration Article 21 The Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the representative offices and their representatives. The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall conduct Article 22 A representative office shall submit the copies of the practice license and the practice certificates of its representatives, and 1) the status of the legal services carried out, including the handling of the legal affaires entrusted to the law firms of the mainland 2) the annual financial statements of the representative office audited by accounting firms or auditing firms, and the vouchers of settlement 3) changes of the representatives and the employed assisting personnel of the mainland of China of the representative office; 4) residing status in the mainland of China of the representatives of the representative office; 5) registration of the representative office and its representatives; 6) other status about the performance of the obligations as prescribed in these Measures. The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall, after Article 23 The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall collect Where the judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government imposes Chapter V Legal Responsibilities Article 24 If a representative office or a representative harms the State safety, public security or public administration order, the criminal Article 25 If a representative office or a representative, in violation of the provisions of Article 15 of these Measures, illegally engages Where anyone commits the illegal acts listed in the preceding paragraph, the judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous Article 26 If a representative office is in any of the following situations, the judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region 1) employing practicing lawyers of the mainland of China, or its assisting personnel employed engaging in the legal services; 2) the fees collected for the legal services haven’t been settled within the mainland of China; 3) failing to submit the materials for the annual examination on time, or failing the annual examination. Where anyone commits the illegal acts listed in item 2) of the preceding paragraph, the judicial department (bureau) of the province, Article 27 If a representative office or a representative is in any of the following situations, the judicial department (bureau) of the province, 1) holding the post or holding the concurrent post of representative in two or more representative offices; 2) disclosing the business secrets or personal privacy of the parties; 3) taking advantage of the legal services to accept money and goods or other benefits from the parties. Article 28 If a representative office which has been written off transfers its property outside the mainland of China before its debts are paid Article 29 If the representative of a representative office provides false evidence, hides the facts or threatens, lures others to provide false Article 30 If a law firm, lawyer or other organization, individual of Hong Kong or Macao engages in legal services in the mainland of China without Article 31 If the practice license of a representative office has been revoked according to law, the law firm of Hong Kong or Macao to which If the representative of a representative office has been given criminal penalty for harming the State safety, public security or Article 32 If the working personnel of the judicial administrative department has committed any of the following acts, the responsible personnel 1) failing to check and examine the certification and materials of the representative offices to be established and of the representatives 2) failing to register or make the annual examination of the representative offices according to the provisions of these Measures; 3) failing to collect the fees according to the charging items and charging standard as provided for by the State. Article 33 Where the working personnel of the judicial administrative department has committed any of the following acts, the responsible personnel 4) issuing the practice license or practice certificate to the representative office to be established or the representative to-be that 5) taking advantage of the post to accept money and goods and seeking private profits; 6) failing to cancel or withdraw the practice license or practice certificate of the representative office or representative that should 7) failing to issue the receipts of fines for the fines collected according to law or failing to fill in the sum of fines according to 8) failing to execute the system of separation of collection and turning in of fines, or failing to turn in all the fees collected, fines 9) failing to investigate into and punish the acts of the representative offices and the representatives thereof that violate the provisions 10) having other acts of poor execution of law or abusing of powers thus to cause serious consequences. If anyone commits any of the above mentioned violations of law thus to cause serious losses to the public property and the interests Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions Article 34 These Measures shall enter into force on April 1, 2002. The representative offices and the representatives thereof that have been |
The Ministry of Justice
2002-03-13