Public notary offices and persons applying for notarization should observe the following procedures:ġ. According to international practice, notarized documents sent by Chinese citizens and legal entities for use abroad can take legal effect and be accepted by the host country only after they are certified by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Foreign Affairs Offices of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities or foreign embassies or consulates in China. This is an extension of the inherent legal effect of notarized documents abroad. Notarized documents are legally valid outside China. These include adoption of children and marriage registration between Chinese citizens and foreigners. This means certain legal acts take effect and become legally binding only after they are notarized. Liability documents notarized by public notaries are enforceable if one party fails to comply, the other party can apply to the local grassroots court that has jurisdiction for enforcement. At present, this is limited only to the recovery of debts and goods. Article 67 of the Civil Procedure Law states, "Legal acts, legal facts and documents that have been notarized through legal procedures should be regarded as a basis for establishing facts, except where opposing evidence is sufficient to overrule the notarized documents." Notarized documents are good for the following four purposes: Auxiliary business, such as preservation of evidence, maintenance of wills or other documents, drafting notary documents on behalf of clients, notarizing the opening of lottery draws, etc.Notarize the enforceability of creditor documents such as repayment agreements and contracts on recovery of debts.Notarize documents that amount to civil legal acts such as authenticity of signatures and seals on certificates, consistency of copies of certificates, excerpts, translations and photocopies with the originals.Notarize facts that amount to civil legal acts such as birth, death, marriage, divorce, kinship, identity, degree, and experience.Notarize civil legal acts such as contracts, trusts, wills, gifts, division of property, and adoption of children.All the offices are independent of each other.Įach office should have a director and a deputy director who should be notaries themselves. Subject to approval from judicial authorities of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, districts of cities may also set up public notary offices. Public notary offices are set up in municipalities directly under the central government, counties (autonomous counties), and cities. Public notaries will be recruited openly through examinations administered by the Ministry of Justice. In the future, the state will no longer approve the establishment of public notary offices as administrative bodies. Under the new scheme, public notary offices are no longer administrative bodies rather, they are non-profit entities with a legal-person status that independently conduct notary business to meet market demand and assume full responsibility for their operations. Since October 1, 2000, the Ministry of Justice has implemented a plan to reform the notary system. State notary offices, at the request of applicants, notarize legal acts and the truthfulness and legality of legal documents and facts in order to protect public property and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of citizens. In the past, public notaries were state offices representing the state in witnessing legal relations in civil matters. Public notaries are persons accredited by the state to witness civil matters for legal purposes. Of the People's Republic of China: A Surveyīorder: The Chinese Legal Information System in Cyberspace Free weekly newsletter with legal news updates and links to the recently translated
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