The Ministry of Civil Affairs ("MCA") has recently issued the Provisions on the Jurisdiction over Cases Involving Violations in Public Fundraising (for Trial Implementation) (the "Provisions"), immediately effectively from the date of issuance.
The Provisions clearly state that, cases involving violations committed by charitable organizations qualified for public fundraising during public fundraising activities, and cases related to illegal public fundraising activities carried out by those charitable organizations unqualified for public fundraising or by other social groups, shall fall under the jurisdiction of authorities of civil affairs with which they are registered. Further, the Provisions note that, for cases related to public fundraising activities illegally conducted by organizations rather than social groups or by individuals, the jurisdiction will go to authorities of civil affairs of the county-level people's governments at the place where the violations take place, and be determined differently under four circumstances. For instance, the jurisdiction will go to the authority of civil affairs at the place where the collection box is placed, if a collection box is set up in a public place to publicly seek donations. Moreover, the Provisions provide that, the authority of civil affairs with jurisdiction over a case may seek assistance in writing from other counterpart authorities of civil affairs in making investigations. Where investigations will be launched across administrative regions, the authority with jurisdiction shall notify its local counterparts in advance, and such local counterparts shall cooperate with the competent authority's investigations.