the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Order of the President of the People’s Republic of China No. 39 The Notarization Law of the People’s Republic of China, which was adopted at the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao August 28, 2005 Notarization Law of the People’s Republic of China ContentsChapter I General Provisions Chapter II Notarial Offices Chapter III Notaries Chapter IV Notarization Procedures Chapter V Effect of Notarization Chapter VI Legal Liabilities Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 With a view to regulating notarization activities, ensuring that the notarization institutions and notaries perform their duties in Article 2 Notarization means an act performed by a notarial office, upon the application of a party concerned, to certify the authenticity and Article 3 A notarial office shall abide by the law and adhere to the principle of objectiveness and impartiality when performing notarial acts. Article 4 China Notary Association shall be established as a national notary association and each province, autonomous region or municipality The notary associations are self-disciplinary organizations of the notarization sector. They shall carry out notarial activities according Article 5 The judicial administrative department shall supervise and guide the notarial offices, notaries and notary associations in accordance Chapter II Notarial Offices Article 6 A notarial office is a non-profit certification institution that is lawfully established and independently exercises the notarial Article 7 A notarial office may, according to the principle of overall planning and rational distribution, be established in a county, undistricted Article 8 A to-be-established notarial office shall satisfy the following requirements: (1) Having its own name; (2) Having a fixed place; (3) Being staffed with 2 or more notaries; and (4) Having the funds necessary to conduct notarization. Article 9 Where a notarial office is to be established, it shall be reported by the local judicial administrative department to the judicial Article 10 The person-in-charge of a notarial office shall be elected from the notaries who have 3 or more years of practicing experience, shall Article 11 Upon request of a natural person, legal person or any other organization, the notarial office shall perform notarial acts for the (1) Contract; (2) Inheritance; (3) Authorization, declaration, bestowal, will; (4) Division of property; (5) Bidding and tendering, auction; (6) Marriage status, kindred relationship, adoption relationship; (7) Birth, existence, death, identity, experience, education background, academic degree, job post_title, professional technical post_title, Whether (8) Articles of association; (9) Preservation of evidence; (10) Signature, seal and date as indicated in a document, duplicate or photocopy of a document conforming with the original document; and (11) Other matters that a natural person, a legal person or any other organization voluntarily requests for notarization. As for any matter that shall be notarized under laws or administrative regulations, the relevant natural person, legal person or any Article 12 Upon the request of a natural person, legal person or any other organization, the notarial office may handle the following affairs: (1) The affairs that shall be registered by a notarial office under laws or administrative regulations; (2) Preservation of evidence; (3) Preservation of will, heritage or other property, articles and documents relating to the notarization affair; (4) Making notarization-related legal documents for others; (5) Providing legal consultation services pertaining to notarization. Article 13 No notarial office is allowed to: (1) Issue a notarial deed for any untrue or illegal matter; (2) Destroy or fraudulently alter any notarial document or archives; (3) Canvass notarial business by denigrating other notarial offices or notaries, or by paying kickbacks or commissions, or by any other (4) Reveal any state secret, business secret or personal privacy it has access to in its practice; (5) Charge notarial fees in violation of the prescribed standards; or (6) Commit any other acts as prohibited by laws or regulations, or provisions of the judicial administrative department of the State Council. Article 14 A notarial office shall establish management rules for its business, financial affairs and assets, shall supervise the practices of Article 15 The notarial office shall buy notarial liability insurance. Chapter III Notaries Article 16 A notary is a practitioner who satisfy the requirements as prescribed by this Law and engage in notarization business in a notarial Article 17 The number of notaries shall be determined in light of the needs of notarial business. The judicial administrative department of a Article 18 A notary shall satisfy the following requirements: (1) Having the nationality of the People’s Republic of China; (2) Being 25- 65 years old; (3) Being impartial and upright, observing discipline and abiding by the law, being of good conduct; (4) Having passed the National Judicial Examination; and (5) Having acted as an intern in a notarial office for 2 or more years, or having 3 or more years of experience of another legal profession Article 19 As for a person who was engaged in teaching and research of law and hold a senior post_title of professional post, or a public servant Article 20 A person under any of the following circumstances may not undertake the job of a notary: (1) Being incapable for civil conduct or having limited capacity for civil conduct; (2) Having been subject to any criminal penalty due to a calculated crime or duty-related crime; (3) Having been discharged from public employment; (4) His practicing certificate has been revoked. Article 21 Anyone who intends to serve as a notary shall satisfy the qualifications for a notary,, and shall file an application. The local judicial Article 22 A notary shall observe the disciplines and the law, scrupulously abide by the professional ethics, lawfully perform his notarial duties, A notary shall have the right to obtain labor remunerations, and to enjoy insurance and welfare treatments. He has the right to resign Article 23 No notary is allowed to: (1) Concurrently hold the post of notary in 2 or more notarial offices; (2) Undertake other paid job(s); (3) Perform any notarial act for his near relative or himself or perform any notarial act in which he or his near relative have an interest; (4) Illegally issue any notarial deed; (5) Unlawfully issue a notarial deed; (6) Encroach upon or misappropriate the notarization fees or encroach upon or steal any articles for the exclusive use of notarization; (7) Destroy or fraudulently alter any notarial document or archives; (8) Reveal any state secret, business secret or personal privacy he has access to in his practice; or (9) Commit any other acts as prohibited by laws and regulations and provisions of the judicial administrative department of the State Article 24 In case a notary is under any of the following circumstances, the local judicial administrative department shall report him to the (1) He has lost the nationality of the People’s Republic of China; (2) He has attained the age of 65 or he is incapable of performing his duties continuously for reasons of health; (3) He has resigned from the post of notary of his own accord; or (4) His practicing certificate of notary has been revoked. Chapter IV Notarization Procedures Article 25 Any natural person, legal person or any other organization in request for notarization may apply for notarization with the notarial The applicant in request for the notarization of real property shall file an application with the notarial office of the place where Article 26 A natural person, legal person or any other organization may entrust others to handle notarial affairs on behalf of the former with Article 27 The party in request for notarization shall faithfully provide the notarial office with the relevant information about the matter The notarial office shall, after its acceptance of a notarization request, inform the party concerned of the legal significance and Article 28 When handling notarial affairs, a notarial office shall, according to the rules for handling different notarial affairs, examine the (1) The identity of the party concerned, the qualifications for requesting for the notarization and the corresponding rights; (2) Whether or not the documents he (it) offers are complete, whether or not the meanings are clear and whether or not the signature and (3) Whether or not the certification documents are authentic, lawful and adequate; and (4) Whether or not the matters under request for notarization are genuine and lawful. Article 29 The notarial office shall verify or authorize a public office located in another place to verify the matter under request for notarization Article 30 If the notarial office, upon examination, considers that the certification documents provided by the party concerned are authentic, Article 31 Under any of the following circumstances, a notarial office shall refuse to perform a notarial act: (1) The person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct has no guardian to request for notarization on his behalf; (2) The party concerned has nothing to do with the matter under request for notarization; (3) The matter under request for notarization is a matter of professional technical authentication or appraisal; (4) The parties concerned disputes over the matter under request for notarization; (5) The party concerned makes up a story, disguise the fact or provides any false certification documents; (6) The party concerned fails to provide adequate certification documents or refuses to supplement the certification documents as required; (7) The matter under request for notarization is untruthful or unlawful; (8) The matter under request for notarization transgresses the social morality; and (9) The party concerned refuses to pay the notarization fees. Article 32 A notarial deed shall be made in the format as required by the judicial administrative department of the State Council and shall be A notarial deed shall be made in the written language commonly used nationwide. In a national autonomous area, it may be made in the Article 33 Where a notarial deed needs to be used outside China, if the country where the notarial deed is to utilized requires authentication Article 34 The party concerned shall pay notarization fees according to the relevant provisions. If the party concerned meets the conditions for obtaining a legal aid, the notarial office shall reduce or remit the notarial fees. Article 35 A notarial office shall classify the notarial documents into different categories and keep them as archives. At the expiration of Chapter V Effect of Notarization Article 36 The notarized civil legal act, fact and document of legal significance shall be taken as the basis for ascertaining a fact except Article 37 As for a notarized credit document that states the payment and the commitment of the debtor to accept the forcible execution, if the In case a definite error is found in the credit document as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the people’s court shall refuse Article 38 Where laws or administrative regulations provide that a certain matter has no legal effect unless it is notarized, this law or administrative Article 39 Where an interested party of the party concerned or of a notarized matter considers that the notarial certificate contains a definite Article 40 Where a party concerned or interested party of the notarized matter disputes over the contents of the notarial certificate, it may Chapter VI Legal Liabilities Article 41 Where a notarial office or any of its notaries commits any of the following acts, it (he) shall be a warning by the judicial administrative (1) Canvassing notarial business by denigrating other notarial offices or notaries, or by paying rebates or commissions, or by any other (2) Charging notarization fees in violation of the prescribed standards; (3) Practicing as a notary in 2 or more notarial offices concurrently; (4) Undertaking other paid job(s); (5) Performing a notarial act for himself or his near relative, or performing a notarial act in which he himself or his near relative (6) Other acts that shall be punished under laws or administrative regulations. Article 42 Where a notarial office or any of its notaries commits any of the following acts, it shall be given a warning by the judicial administrative (1) Illegally issuing any notarial certificate; (2) Issuing a notarial deed for any untrue or unlawful affair; (3) Encroaching upon or misappropriating the notarization fees or encroaching upon or steal any articles exclusively used for notarization; (4) Destroying or fraudulently altering the notarial documents or notarial archives; (5) Revealing any state secret, business secret or personal privacy it has access to in its practice; or (6) Other acts that shall be punished under laws or administrative regulations. Where anyone commits any crime intentionally or commits any position-related crime due to negligence and is thus given a criminal Article 43 Where a notarization office or any of its notary causes any losses to the party concerned or interested party to the notarization If the party concerned, interested party of the notarization matter and the notarial office dispute over the compensation, a civil Article 44 A party concerned or any other individual or organization commits shall bear the civil liabilities if it (he) commits any of the following (1) Obtaining any notarial deed by providing false certification documents; (2) Using any false notarial deed to commit fraudulent acts; or (3) Counterfeiting, altering or buying or selling any counterfeited or altered notarial deed or seal of notarial office. Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Article 45 The embassies (consular offices) of the People’s Republic of China stationed abroad may perform notarial acts in accordance with this Article 46 The charging standards for notarization fee shall be formulated by the public finance and price administrative departments of the Article 47 This Law shall go into effect as of March 1, 2006. |
the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China
2005-08-28