Ministry of Justice, Administration of Mainland Representative Offices of Law Firms from Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions Procedures

Promulgated: March 13 2002
Effective: April 1 2002
Applicability: The Procedures are applicable to Hong Kong and Macao law firms that set up representative offices in the mainland to conduct legal services (Article 2).

Main contents: The Procedures provide that representative offices of Hong Kong and Macao law firms and their representatives shall comply with mainland professional ethics and practice disciplines (Article 4). Hong Kong and Macao law firms are not allowed to provide legal services in the mainland in the name of consulting companies or otherwise (Article 6). To set up a representative office in the mainland, a Hong Kong or Macao law firm shall satisfy the conditions that it has not been penalized for violation of professional ethics and practice disciplines in Hong Kong or Macao, that its proposed representatives are similarly clean in the profession and that the firm has practical needs to set up a representative office in the mainland to provide legal services (Article 7). Applications for setting up representative offices shall be submitted to a provincial level judicial bureau at the place where the proposed representative office is to be located (Article 8). After passing the examination, the application will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for verification and approval. Successful applicants will receive practice licences and practice certificates with which they can register their representative offices and their representatives with the relevant judicial bureau (Articles 9 and 10). Registered representative offices and their representatives shall confine their activities to: (1) advising on the laws of Hong Kong or Macao where their lawyers are permitted to practise law and on international treaties and practices; (2) handling, when instructed by clients or mainland law firms, legal affairs of Hong Kong or Macao where their lawyers are permitted to practise law; (3) instructing, on behalf of clients from their administrative regions, mainland law firms to deal with mainland legal affairs; (4) entering into contracts to maintain long-term relations with mainland law firms for legal affairs; and (5) advising on the impact of China's legal environment (Article 15). Representative offices shall not employ mainland registered lawyers (Article 16). Legal fees charged by representative offices must be settled within the mainland (Article 20).
Related legislation: Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China Regulations, Dec 22 2001, CLP 2002 No.2 p43