Order of the Ministry of Justice on Issuing the 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

Order of the Ministry of Justice on Issuing the 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

Order of the Ministry of Justice[2002] No.70

March 13, 2002

The 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 Administrative Region have been approved at the executive meeting of the Ministry of Justice on Feb. 20, 2002 and are hereby promulgated, and shall come into force on April 1, 2002.

Minister of the Ministry of Justice Zhang Fuseng

Attached: 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

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 the representative offices) by law firms of the Hong Kong SAR and the Macao SAR (hereinafter referred to as the law firms of Hong Kong and Macao) and the legal services they provide, these Measures have been formulated according to the provisions of the Regulations on the Administration of the Representative Offices Stationed in China by Foreign Law Firms.
　
Article 2 These Measures shall be applicable to the activities of law firms of Hong Kong and Macao of establishing representative offices and engaging in legal services.
　
Article 3 The representative offices and the representatives thereof shall be under the protection of the state laws when engaging in legal services according to the provisions of these Measures.
　
Article 4 The representative offices and the representatives thereof shall, when engaging in legal services, observe the laws, regulations and rules of the State, scrupulously abide by the professional ethics and practice discipline of lawyers, and may not harm the State safety and the public interests.
　
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 respective representative offices and the representatives thereof.

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 referred to as the Ministry of Justice) to establish representative offices and send representatives in the mainland of China.
Law firms, other organizations or individuals of Hong Kong and Macao may not engage in legal services in the name of consultative companies or other titles in the mainland of China.
　
Article 7 Law firms of Hong Kong and Macao applying for establishing representative offices and sending representatives shall meet the following conditions:
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 professional ethics and practice disciplines;
2.the representatives of the representative office shall be practicing lawyers and the members of the lawyers' association of the Hong Kong SAR or the Macao SAR, and have been practicing for not less than 2 years outside the mainland of China, and haven't been given criminal punishment or been punished for violation of professional ethics and practice disciplines; among whom, the chief representative shall has practiced outside the mainland of China for not less than 3 years, and shall be the partner or personnel of the same position of that law firm;
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 and materials to the judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government of the place of domicile of the representative office to be established:
1.application form signed by the main principal of the law firm for establishing the representative office and sending representatives. The name of the representative office to be established shall be "Representative Office Stationed in *** (name of the mainland city) by *** Law Firm (the Chinese name of that law firm)";
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 the chief representative to-be is the partner or the personnel of the same position of that law firm;
5.certifications of the lawyer practice qualification of the representatives of the representative office which prove that the chief representative to-be has practiced for not less than 3 years outside of the mainland of China and the other representatives to-be have practiced outside the mainland of China for not less than 2 years;
6.certifications issued by the lawyers' association of the special administrative region where that law firm is located of the membership in the lawyers' association of the representatives to-be of that representative office;
7.certifications issued by the body of lawyer administration of the special administrative region where that law firm is located showing no criminal punishment and punishment for violation of professional ethics and practice discipline of that law firm and its representatives to-be.
The documents and materials listed in the preceding paragraph shall have the notarization certification given by the authorized notary of Hong Kong or the notarization agency of Macao.
The documents and materials submitted by that law firm shall be in triplication and be bound into book forms separately, where the documents and materials are written in foreign languages, Chinese versions shall be attached.
　
Article 9 The judicial department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall finish the examination in 3 months from the day of receiving the application documents and materials, and shall submit the examination opinions together with the documents and materials to the Ministry of Justice for examination and verification.
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