Administrative Regulations on the China-based Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms
Administrative Regulations on the China-based Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms
Administrative Regulations on the China-based Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms
Order of the State Council [2001] No. 338
December 22, 2001
The Administrative Regulations on the China-based Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms approved at the 51st of executive meeting of the State Council on December 19, 2001, is hereby promulgated, and shall come into effect as of January 1, 2002.
Premier: Zhu Rongji
Attachment: Administrative Regulations on the China-based Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are enacted in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Lawyers in order to regulate the establishment of China-based representative offices of foreign law firms as well as their legal services.
Article 2 These Regulations shall be applicable to the establishment of and the legal services rendered by China-based representative offices of foreign law firms (hereinafter referred to as representative offices).
Article 3 The representative offices and their representatives shall, when rendering legal services, abide by the laws, regulations and rules of China, strictly observe Chinese lawyers' professional ethics and practice disciplines, and shall not damage China's national security and social public benefits.
Article 4 The representative offices and their representatives shall, when rendering legal services in accordance with these Regulations, be protected by Chinese law.
Article 5 A foreign law firm shall bear the civil liabilities for the legal services rendered within the territory of China by its representative offices and the representatives.
Chapter II Establishment, Modification and Cancellation of the Representative Offices
Article 6 Where a foreign law firm is to establish a representative office in or send representatives to China, it shall obtain the permission of the judicial administrative department under the State Council.
No foreign law firm, other foreign organization or individual may render legal services within the territory of China in the name of a consulting company or in other names.
Article 7 Where a foreign law firm applies for establishing a representative office in or sending representatives to China, it shall fulfill the following conditions:
1. It has practiced legally in its own country, and has not been punished due to violation of lawyers' professional ethics or practice disciplines;
2. Every representative in the representative office shall be a practicing lawyer and also a member of the lawyers' association of the country where he acquired his practice qualification, and has practiced as a lawyer for no less than 2 years outside the territory of China, and has not been imposed upon criminal punishments or imposed upon other punishments due to violation of lawyers' professional ethics or practice disciplines; among the representatives, the chief representative shall have practiced as a lawyer for no less than 3 years outside the territory of China, and shall be a partner of the foreign law firm or a person holding the same post;
3. It shall have actual need to establish a representative office in China to carry out legal services.
Article 8 A foreign law firm shall, when applying for establishing a representative office in China, submit the following documents to the judicial administrative department of the People's Government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the proposed representative office is to be domiciled:
1. The application signed by the principal of the foreign law firm for establishing the representative office and sending the representatives; the name of the proposed representative office shall be XX law firm (Chinese translation of the name of this law firm) in XX (name of the city in China) representative office;
2. The documents attesting that the foreign law firm has been legally established in its own country;
3. The Partnership Agreement or Articles of Association of this foreign law firm as well as the name list of the principal and partners;
4. The Powers of Attorney issued by the foreign law firm to the proposed representatives in the representative office, as well as the Confirmation Letter stating that the proposed chief representative is a partner of this law firm or a person holding the same post;
5. The lawyer's practice qualifications of the proposed representatives in the representative office as well as the documents attesting that the proposed chief representative has practiced as a lawyer for no less than 3 years outside the territory of China and other proposed representatives have practiced as lawyers for no less than 2 years outside the territory of China;
6. The documents issued by the lawyers' association of the country where the foreign law firm is domiciled which attest that the proposed representatives in the representative office are members of the lawyers' association of the country;
7. The documents issued by the lawyers' administrative organ of the country where the foreign law firm is domiciled which attest that the law firm and the proposed representatives have never been imposed upon criminal punishments or imposed upon other punishments due to violation of lawyers' professional ethics or practice disciplines.
The documents enumerated in the preceding paragraph shall be notarized by a public notarial office or a public notary of the applicant's own country, as well as be confirmed by both the organ of the applicant's own country in charge of foreign affairs or an organ authorized by the organ of the applicant's own country in charge of foreign affairs and also be confirmed by the Chinese embassy or consulate stationed in that country.
The documents submitted by the foreign law firm shall be in triplicate, and their corresponding Chinese versions shall be attached.
Article 9 The judicial administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall, within 3 months after receiving the application documents, complete the examination and submit the examination opinion and the documents to the judicial administrative department under the State Council for check.
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