Ministry of Justice, Notarization Procedures Rules

Promulgated: June 18 2002
Effective: August 1 2002
Interpreting authority: Ministry of Justice
Applicability: The Rules apply to requests for notarization at notaries public in China by foreigners, stateless persons or foreign organizations (Article 62).

Main contents: The Rules contain 64 articles in 12 parts dealing respectively with general provisions; parties concerned; avoidance; jurisdiction; application and acceptance; examination; issuance; time limits, termination and refusal; dossier filing; special procedures; appeal and review; and supplementary provisions.
A party can entrust the request for notarization to a representative, except when the matter for notarization is a will, a bestowal, an affiliation order, an adoption and other acts that involve a close personal relationship with the party (Article 8). When parties residing outside of mainland China entrust a representative to apply for notarization, the entrustment document must, unless otherwise stipulated by the Ministry of Justice, be certified by a notary public in the applicant's region, or a notary attached to the consulate of the PRC, or another agency or person designated by the Ministry of Justice (Article 9).
The jurisdiction of notarization shall be determined by the domicile of the parties, the location of the legal action or the location of the event; when related to the transfer of real estate, it shall be determined by the location of the real estate unless it is a will, entrustment or declaration that involves real estate. (Article 12).On-site investigation by notaries public should be conducted in pairs; if under special circumstances only one attends, then a witness should be present and sign the minutes of the investigation (Section 6).
A creditor document with a clause permitting compulsory enforcement should meet the following conditions before it can be notarized: the subject must be a payment of a fixed currency amount, an article or negotiable securities; the claim-debt relationship must be clear and the creditor and debtor have no question on the content regarding payment; and the document must contain a promise by the debtor that it is willing to accept compulsory enforcement (Article 35). Foreign language duplicates of notarized documents may be issued upon request (Article 39).
Notarization should be completed within one month. The period can be extended to a maximum of six months for complicated cases (Article 44).
When handling tenders, draws, auctions or similar matters, the notary public officers will personally attend the event and announce the notification immediately, with the notary documentation being delivered within seven days (Article 51). If in the implementation of a notarized matter a dispute arises between the concerned parties, the notary public may carry out mediation upon request. If the parties still fail to arrive at an agreement, the matter can be submitted to a people's court for an arbitration institution (Article 54).
If a party does not agree with the handling of case by a notary public office, it can appeal within 60 days to the judicial administrative authority at the same level (Article 55).
Related legislation: PRC, Notarization Tentative Regulations
Repealed legislation: Notarization Procedures Rules (Trial Implementation), Dec 12 1990