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Notarization Law of the People's Republic of China （2005）
(Adopted at the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth
National People’s Congress on August 28, 2005)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Notarial Institutions
Chapter III Notaries
Chapter IV Notarization Procedures
Chapter V The Effect of Notarization
Chapter VI Legal Liability
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purpose of regulating notarial
activities, ensuring that
the notarial institutions and notaries perform their duties in
accordance with law, preventing
disputes and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the
natural persons, legal
persons or other organizations.
Article 2 Notarization means the act performed by a notarial
institution, upon the application
of a natural person, legal person or other organization and following
statutory procedures,
to certify the authenticity and legality of a civil juristic act or a
fact or document of
legal significance.
Article 3 A notarial institution shall comply with law and shall adhere
to the principles of
objectiveness and impartiality when doing notarization.
Article 4 A China Notaries Association shall be set up for the country
as a whole, and a local
notaries association shall be set up for each province, autonomous
region, and municipality
directly under the Central Government. The China Notaries Association
and the local notaries
associations are public organizations with the status of legal person.
The charter of the China
Notaries Association shall be formulated by the congress of its members
and shall be submitted
to the judicial administration department under the State Council for
the record.
The notaries associations are self-disciplined organizations of the
notarial sector. They shall
carry out their activities in accordance with their charter and shall
supervise the practices
of the notarial institutions and the notaries.
Article 5 The judicial administration departments shall, in accordance
with the
provisions of this Law, exercise supervision over and provide guidance
to the notarial
institutions, notaries and notaries associations.
Chapter II Notarial Institutions
Article 6 A notarial institution is a lawfully
established, non-profit certifying institution
that independently performs the notarial
functions and bears civil liabilities in
accordance with law.
Article 7 A notarial institution may, in
compliance with the principle of overall
planning and rational distribution, be
established in a county, a city not divided into
districts, a city divided into districts, a
municipality directly under the Central
Government or a district directly under a city.
One or more notarial institutions, may be
established in a city divided into districts, or
a municipality directly under the Central
Government. Notarial institutions are not to be
established at different levels in
correspondence with the administrative
hierarchy.
Article 8 To establish a notarial institution,
the following conditions shall be met:
(1) having its own name;
(2) having a fixed office;
(3) having two or more notaries; and
(4) having the funds necessary for carrying out
notarial work.
Article 9 To establish a notarial institution,
an application shall be submitted by the local
judicial administration department to the
judicial administration department of the
people’s government of the province, autonomous
region, or municipality directly under the
Central Government for approval, and, after
approval is granted in compliance with the
prescribed procedure, a practicing certificate
of notarial institution shall be issued.
Article 10 The person in charge of a notarial
institution shall be elected from among the
notaries who have practiced in this field for
three or more years, and he shall be subject to
examination and approval by the local judicial
administration department and be reported to the
judicial administration department of the
people’s government of the province, autonomous
region, or municipality directly under the
Central Government for the record.
Article 11 Depending on the request of a natural
person, legal person or other organization, the
notarial institution shall notarize for the
following matters:
(1) a contract;
(2) succession;
(3) the power of attorney, statement, gift, and
will;
(4) division of property;
(5) bid invitation, tendering, and auction;
(6) marital status, kindred relationship, and
adoption relationship;
(7) birth, existence, death, identity,
experiences, educational background, degree, job
title, professional title, and having or not
having illegal or criminal record;
(8) articles of association of a company;
(9) preservation of evidence;
(10) signature, seal and date as indicated in a
document, and duplicate or photocopy of a
document conforming with the original document;
and
(11) other matters for which a natural person,
legal person or other organization voluntarily
requests for notarization.
For a matter that needs to be notarized as
prescribed by laws or administrative
regulations, the natural person, legal person or
any other organization concerned shall request a
notarial institution for notarization.
Article 12 Depending on the request of a natural
person, legal person or other organization, the
notarial institution may do the following:
(1) registration of matters required of a
notarial institution by laws or administrative
regulations;
(2) preservation of evidence;
(3) preservation of will, heritage or other
property, articles and documents related to the
matters for notarization;
(4) making, for another person, legal documents
related to matters for notarization; and
(5) providing legal consultancy services related
to notarization.
Article 13 A notarial institution shall not do
any of the following:
(1) issuing a notarial certificate for an untrue
or illegal matter;
(2) destroying or fraudulently altering a
notarial document or file;
(3) vying for notarial business by defaming
another notarial institution or notary, or by
paying kickbacks or commissions, or by other
illegitimate means;
(4) divulging State secrets, commercial secrets
or personal privacy it has access to in its
practices;
(5 ) charging notarization fees in violation of
the prescribed rates; or
(6) committing other acts as prohibited by laws,
regulations, or the judicial administration
department under the State Council.
Article 14 A notarial institution shall
institute systems for the management of
business, financial affairs and assets,
supervise the professional practices of its
notaries and institute a system of liability for
fault.
Article 15 Notarial institutions shall obtain
liability insurance for notarial practices.
Chapter III Notaries
Article 16 A notary is a notarial practitioner
who meets the requirements as prescribed by this
Law and is working in a notarial institution.
Article 17 The number of notaries shall be
determined according to the need of the notarial
business. The judicial administration department
of the people’s government of a province,
autonomous region, or municipality directly
under the Central Government shall, in light of
the number of the notarial institutions
established and the need of the notarial
business, decide on a plan for the manning of
notaries and shall submit it to the judicial
administration department under the State
Council for the record.
Article 18 To serve as a notary, one shall meet
the following requirements:
(1) having the nationality of the People’s
Republic of China;
(2) being between 25 and 65 years old;
(3) being fair-mainded and upright, observing
laws and rules of discipline, and being of good
moral character;
(4) having passed the national judicial
examination; and
(5) having served as an intern in a notarial
institution for two or more years, or having
three or more years of experiences in another
legal profession and having served as an intern
in a notarial institution for one year or more,
and being professionally qualified.
Article 19 A person who has been engaged in
teaching or research of law or has a senior
professional title, or a person who has been a
university graduate or had a higher educational
background and has served as a public servant or
lawyer for 10 full years in adjudication,
procuratorial work, legislative work or legal
service, if he has left his post and has been
professionally qualified, may serve as a notary.
Article 20 A person shall not serve as a notary,
if:
(1) He has no or has limited capacity for civil
conduct;
(2) He has been subjected to criminal punishment
due to an intentional crime or a crime committed
because of negligence of duty;
(3) He has been dismissed from public
employment; or
(4) His practicing certificate has been revoked.
Article 21 To serve as a notary, a person who
meets the requirements for a notary shall submit
an application and be recommended by a notarial
institution. The local judicial administration
department shall submit the matter to the
judicial administration department of the
people’s government of a province, autonomous
region, or municipality directly under the
Central Government for examination and approval,
which, after granting approval, shall request
the judicial administration department under the
State Council for appointment, before issuing to
the person a notary’s practicing certificate.
Article 22 A notary shall observe rules of
discipline and law, strictly abide by
professional ethics, perform his notarial duties
according to law, and keep confidential the
secrets he has access to in his practices.
A notary shall be entitled to receive
remuneration, enjoy insurance and welfare
benefits. He shall have the right to offer
resignation from his job, to file a complaint or
bring a charge. He shall be free from being
dismissed from his post or punished, unless
there is a statutory reason or unless statutory
procedures have been followed.
Article 23 No notary may:
(1) serve as a notary in two or more notarial
institutions at the same time;
(2) doing other paid job(s);
(3) doing notarization for himself or his close
relative, or where he or his close relative has
an interest in;
(4) issuing a notarial certificate without
authorization;
(5) issuing a notarial certificate for an untrue
or unlawful matter;
(6) taking illegal possession of or
misappropriating notarization fees, or taking
illegal possession of or stealing articles for
the exclusive use of notarization;
(7) destroying or fraudulently altering a
notarial document or file;
(8) divulging State secrets, commercial secrets
or personal privacy he has access to in his
practices; or
(9) committing other acts as prohibited by laws
or regulations, or the regulations of the
judicial administration department under the
State Council.
Article 24 The local judicial administration
department shall report him to the judicial
administration department of the people’s
government of a province, autonomous region, or
municipality directly under the Central
Government, which shall request the judicial
administration department under the State
Council to dismiss him from the job, if a
notary:
(1) has forfeited the nationality of the
People’s Republic of China;
(2) has attained to the age of 65 or becomes
unable to carry on his duties for health
reasons;
(3) has resigned from the job of a notary of his
own free will; or
(4) his notary’s practicing certificate has been
revoked.
Chapter IV Notarization Procedures
Article 25 Where a natural person, legal person
or other organization requests for notarization,
he/it may file an application to the notarial
institution of the place where his/its domicile
or habitual residence is located, or where the
relevant act is committed, or where the relevant
event occurs.
Where a request for notarization involves real
property, the applicant shall submit the request
to the notarial institution of the place where
the real property is located. The provisions of
the preceding paragraph shall be applicable to
requests for notarization of the power of
attorney, statement, gift and will involved with
the real property.
Article 26 A natural person, legal person or
other organization may entrust another person
with the request for notarization, with the
exception of the notarization of a will,
survival, and adoption relationship, which shall
be requested by the said person or organization
himself or itself.
Article 27 The party who requests notarization
shall provide the notarial institution with
truthful information about the matter for which
he requests notarization, and shall provide
genuine, lawful and sufficient supporting
materials. Where the supporting materials are
insufficient, the notarial institution may ask
him to supplement the materials.
After the notarial institution accepts a request
for notarization, it shall inform the party
concerned of the legal significance and the
possible legal consequences of the matter for
which he requests notarization, and shall keep a
record of what it has informed of the party
concerned and place it on file.
Article 28 When doing notarization, a notarial
institution shall, according to the different
rules governing different matters for
notarization, examine the following items,
respectively:
(1) the identity of the party concerned, his
qualifications for requesting the notarization
and the necessary rights he enjoys;
(2) whether the documents provided are complete
in content, whether the meaning is clear and
whether the signature and seal are complete;
(3) whether the supporting materials are
authentic, lawful and sufficient; and
(4) whether the matters under request for
notarization are genuine and lawful.
Article 29 Where a notarial institution, in
accordance with the rules governing
notarization, deems it necessary to verify the
matter under request for notarization and the
supporting materials provided by the party
concerned, or where it has doubts about the
matter or materials, it should verify the matter
or materials, or where it entrusts a notarial
institution located in another place to do the
verifying on its behalf, the unit or individual
concerned shall offer assistance according to
law.
Article 30 If the notarial institution, upon
examination, considers that the supporting
materials provided for request for notarization
are truthful, lawful and sufficient, and that
the matter under request for notarization is
genuine and lawful, it shall issue a notarial
certificate to the party concerned within 15
working days from the date it accepts the
request for notarization. However, under
conditions of force majeure and when supporting
materials need to be supplemented or some
relevant information needs to be verified, the
time thus needed shall not be included in the
aforesaid time limit.
Article 31 A notarial institution shall not do
the notarization, if:
(1) The person who has no or has limited
capacity for civil conduct does not have a
guardian to request for notarization on his
behalf;
(2) The party concerned has no interest in the
matter under request for notarization;
(3) The matter under request for notarization is
a matter involving professional technical
authentication or assessment;
(4) There are disputes between the parties
concerned over the matter under request for
notarization;
(5) The party concerned makes up a story,
conceals the facts or provides false supporting
materials;
(6) The supporting materials provided by the
party concerned are insufficient or the party
concerned refuses to supplement such materials;
(7) The matter under request for notarization is
not genuine or is unlawful;
(8) The matter under request for notarization
goes against public ethics; or
(9) The party concerned refuses to pay the
notarization fees according to relevant
regulations.
Article 32 A notarial certificate shall be made
according to the format as prescribed by the
judicial administration department under the
State Council and shall carry the signature, or
plus the seal of the notary’s signature, as well
as the seal of the notarial institution. A
notarial certificate becomes valid as of the
date of its issuance.
A notarial certificate shall be made in the
written language commonly used nationwide. In a
national autonomous area, it may be made in the
language commonly used by the local ethnic
people.
Article 33 Where a notarial certificate is to be
used outside China and the country where the
certificate is to be used requires confirmation
in advance, the certificate shall be subject to
confirmation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the People’s Republic of China or the
institution it authorizes to confirm the
certificate and by the embassy (consular office)
of the country concerned in China.
Article 34 The party concerned shall pay
notarization fees in accordance with relevant
regulations.
If the party concerned satisfies the conditions
for obtaining legal aid, the notarial office
shall, according to relevant regulations, reduce
the notarial charges or exempt the party from
such charges.
Article 35 A notarial institution shall classify
the natarial documents into different categories
and keep them on file. At the expiration of the
period of time for preservation of notarial
files of such important matters as ones which
should be notarized according to laws or
administrative regulations, the notarial
institution shall, in accordance with relevant
regulations, transfer such notarial files to
local archives for preservation.
Chapter V The Effect of Notarization
Article 36 A notarized civil legal act, fact and
document of legal significance shall be taken as
the basis for establishing a fact, except where
there is contrary evidence which is strong
enough to reverse the notarization.
Article 37 With regard to a notarized document
of creditor’s right the content of which is on
payment and which clearly states the commitment
of the debtor to accept compulsory execution, if
the debtor fails to fulfill or to properly
fulfill his commitment, the creditor may, in
accordance with law, submit an application for
execution to the people’s court that has
jurisdiction over the matter.
Where there’s definitely an error in the
document of creditor’s right as mentioned in the
preceding paragraph, the people’s court shall
decide not to execute it and shall serve its
written decision upon both parties concerned and
the notarial institution.
Article 38 Where laws or administrative
regulations provide that a certain matter has no
legal effect unless it is notarized, such
provisions shall be applied.
Article 39 Where the party concerned or the
interested party of a notarized matter considers
that there is an error in the notarial
certificate, he may request the notarial
institution that produced the notarial
certificate to make a review. If what is
notarized in the notarial certificate is illegal
or does not conform to facts, the notarial
institution shall revoke the notarial
certificate and announce it to the public, and
the notarial certificate shall be invalidated
from the very beginning. If there is any other
error in the notarial certificate, the notarial
institution shall correct it.
Article 40 Where a dispute arises between the
party concerned and the interested party of the
notarized matter over what is notarized in the
notarial certificate, they may lodge a civil
lawsuit in respect of the dispute in a people’s
court.
Chapter VI Legal Liability
Article 41 Where a notarial institution or one
of its notaries commits one of the following
acts, the judicial administration department of
a province, autonomous region, or municipality
directly under the Central Government, or of a
city divided into districts, shall give it/him a
warning. If the circumstances are serious, it
shall impose on the notarial institution a fine
of not less than RMB10, 000 yuan but not more
than 50, 000 yuan, and on the notary a fine of
not less than 1, 000 yuan but not more than 5,
000 yuan, and may, in addition, suspend its/his
practices for not more than three months but not
less than six months by way of punishment; the
unlawful gains, if any, shall shall be
confiscated:
(1) vying for notarial business by defaming
other notarial institutions or notaries, or by
paying kickbacks or commissions, or by other
illegitimate means;
(2) charging notarization fees in violation of
the prescribed rates;
(3) serving as a notary in two or more notarial
institutions at the same time;
(4) doing other paid job(s);
(5) doing notarization for himself or his close
relative or where he himself or his close
relative has an interest in; or
(6) other acts that are to be subjected to
punishment according to laws or administrative
regulations.
Article 42 Where a notarial institution or its
notary commits one of the following acts, the
judicial administration department of the
people’s government of the province, autonomous
region, municipality directly under the Central
Government, or of a city divided into districts
shall give the notarial institution a warning
and shall impose on it a fine of not less than
20, 000 yuan but not more than 100, 000 yuan and
may, in addition and by way of punishment, make
it suspend business for rectification for not
less than one month but not more than three
months. It shall give the notary a warning and
impose on him a fine of not less than 2, 000
yuan but not more than 10, 000 yuan and may, in
addition and by way of punishment, make him
suspend his practices for not less than three
months but not more than twelve months. His
unlawful gains, if any, shall be confiscated; if
the circumstances are serious, the judicial
administration department of the people’s
government of a province, autonomous region, or
municipality directly under the Central
Government shall revoke his notary’s practicing
certificate; and if a crime is constituted, he
shall be investigated for criminal
responsibility:
(1) issuing a notarial certificate without
authorization;
(2) issuing a notarial certificate for a matter
that is not genuine or is unlawful;
(3) taking illegal possession of or
misappropriating notarization fees, or taking
illegal possession of or stealing articles for
the exclusive use of notarization;
(4) destroying or fraudulently altering a
notarial document or notarial file;
(5) divulging State secrets, commercial secrets
or personal privacy it/he has access to in
its/his practices; or
(6) other acts that are to be subject to
punishment according to laws or administrative
regulations.
Where a notary is subjected to criminal
punishment due to a crime committed
intentionally or because of negligence of duty,
his notary’s practicing certificate shall be
revoked.
Article 43 Where a notarial institution or
notary causes losses to the party concerned or
to an interested party of the matter for
natorization due to its/his fault, the said
institution shall bear the corresponding
liability for compensation. After making the
compensation, it may claim repayment from the
notary who intentionally commits the fault or
commits a serious fault.
Where a dispute arises over the compensation between the party concerned
or the interested
party of the matter for notarization on the one hand, and the notarial
institution on the other,
the former may initiate a civil lawsuit in a people’s court.
Article 44 Where the party concerned or another individual or
organization commits one of the
following acts and thus causes losses to another person, he/it shall
bear civil liability in
accordance with law; if the act infringes the administration for pubic
security, he/it shall
be given an administrative penalty for public security; and if a crime
is constituted, he/it
shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law:
(1) obtaining a notarial certificate by providing false supporting
materials;
(2) using a false notarial certificate to engage in fraudulent
activities; or
(3) forging or altering notarial certificates or the seals of notarial
institutions, or buying or
selling such forged or altered certificates or seals.
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 45 The embassies (consular offices) of the People’s Republic of
China stationed abroad
may provide notarization pursuant to the provisions of this Law or the
international
treaties which the People’s Republic of China has concluded or has
acceded to.
Article 46 The rates for notarization fees shall be fixed by the finance
department and the
department in charge of pricing under the State Council in conjunction
with the judicial
administration department under the State Council.
Article 47 This Law shall go into effect as of March 1, 2006.
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