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Ministry of Justice Decision on Amending the Measures for the Administration of Licenses for Lawyers and Law Firms
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Justice Order No. 143, March 16, 2019)

In order to implement the Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Nationwide Integrated Online Government Service Platform Construction (Guo Fa [2018] No. 27), ensure the online operation of the nationwide integrated online government service platform, and promote "one-stop" government services, the Ministry of Justice has decided to amend the second paragraph of Article 6 of the Measures for the Administration of Licenses for Lawyers and Law Firms (Ministry of Justice Order No. 119) to: "The license shall be stamped with the seal of the issuing authority."

This decision shall come into force on May 1, 2019.

The Measures for the Administration of Licenses for Lawyers and Law Firms shall be amended accordingly in accordance with this decision and republished.

Measures for the Administration of Licenses for Lawyers and Law Firms
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Justice Order No. 119, September 21, 2009; Amended by the Ministry of Justice Order No. 143, March 16, 2019)

Article 1 For the purpose of standardizing and strengthening the administration of lawyer's practice certificates and law firm's practice licenses (hereinafter referred to as "practice certificates"), these Measures are formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Lawyers' Law of the People's Republic of China and in combination with the actual situation of lawyer's work management.

Article 2 A lawyer's practice certificate is a valid document for a lawyer to be legally permitted to practice.

A law firm's practice certificate is a valid document for a law firm to be legally permitted to be established and practice.

Article 3 Lawyer's practice certificates include two types: "Lawyer's Practice Certificate" applicable to full-time and part-time lawyers, and "Lawyer's Practice Certificate" applicable to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents practicing law in the mainland (mainland China).

Law firm practice certificates include law firm practice licenses and law firm branch practice licenses. Law firm (including law firm branches, hereinafter the same) practice certificates are divided into originals and copies, and the originals and copies have the same legal effect.

Article 4 The content to be stated, the format of production, and the method of serial number compilation of lawyer and law firm practice certificates shall be stipulated by the Ministry of Justice. Practice certificates shall be uniformly produced by the Ministry of Justice.

Practice certificate serial numbers shall be printed when lawyer and law firm practice certificates are produced. Provincial, autonomous region, and municipal judicial administrative organs shall register the practice certificate serial numbers when issuing, canceling, reissuing, or supplementing practice certificates.

Article 5 Provincial, autonomous region, and municipal judicial administrative organs shall submit an application report to the Ministry of Justice at the beginning of each year for blank practice certificates, and submit the Statistical Table of the Issuance and Use of Lawyer and Law Firm Practice Certificates and relevant registration forms.

Article 6 Provincial, autonomous region, and municipal judicial administrative organs shall issue practice certificates to applicants within ten days from the date of making the decision to grant the lawyer's practice or the establishment of the law firm.

The practice certificate shall be stamped with the seal of the issuing authority.

Article 7 Lawyers and law firms shall properly keep their practice certificates and shall not alter, modify, mortgage, lend, rent, or intentionally damage them.

Article 8 Lawyers and law firms shall use practice certificates in accordance with the law. Lawyers shall present their practice certificates when practicing. Law firms shall display the original practice certificate in a conspicuous place in their practice premises; the copy of the practice certificate shall be used for inspection.

Article 9 If a lawyer applies for a change of practice institution, the change review authority shall reissue the lawyer's practice certificate to the applicant within ten days from the date of making the decision to grant the change.

If a law firm changes its name, person in charge, organizational form, address, etc., the change review or filing authority shall handle the practice certificate change registration or reissue the practice certificate for the law firm within ten days from the date of making the decision to grant the change or filing.

Article 10 If a lawyer or law firm's practice certificate is damaged or unusable for other reasons, they shall apply for a reissue of the practice certificate.

For reissuance of practice certificates, applications shall be submitted to the municipal or district (county) judicial administrative organs of the city under the jurisdiction, which shall complete the review within five days of receiving the application and report to the original issuing authority. The original issuing authority shall complete the review within ten days of receiving the application; if it meets the requirements, it shall reissue the practice certificate to the applicant; if it does not meet the requirements, it shall not reissue the practice certificate and shall explain the reasons to the applicant.

If the reissue of the practice certificate is granted, the applicant shall return the original practice certificate to the original issuing authority when collecting the new practice certificate.

Article 11 If a practice certificate is lost, the lawyer or law firm shall promptly report to the county (district) judicial administrative organ of its location and publish a notice of loss in a provincial-level or above newspaper or on the website designated by the issuing authority. The notice of loss shall state the type of lost practice certificate, the name (name) of the certificate holder, the practice certificate number, and the practice certificate serial number.

If a lawyer or law firm applies for a supplementary issuance of a practice certificate, the procedure stipulated in Article 10, paragraph 2 of these Measures shall be followed. Proof of the published notice of loss shall be submitted at the time of application.

Article 12 After completing the annual inspection and assessment of law firms each year, the municipal or district (county) judicial administrative organs under the jurisdiction shall fill in the assessment year, assessment results, assessment (filing) authority, and assessment (filing) date in the corresponding columns of the law firm and lawyer practice certificates; stamp the "Annual Inspection and Assessment of Law Firms" special seal on the copy of the law firm practice certificate, and stamp the "Annual Assessment Filing of Lawyers" special seal on the lawyer practice certificate.

Article 13 If a lawyer is subject to a penalty of suspension of practice, or a law firm is subject to a penalty of suspension of business, the judicial administrative organ that makes the penalty decision, or the lower-level judicial administrative organ entrusted by it, shall withhold the practice certificates of the penalized lawyer or law firm when announcing or serving the penalty decision. The practice certificates shall be returned upon expiration of the penalty period.

Article 14 If a judicial administrative organ imposes administrative penalties on a law firm for illegal acts, the judicial administrative organ that makes the penalty decision shall register the content of the penalty on the copy of the law firm's practice certificate within fifteen days from the date of the decision.

Article 15 If a lawyer or law firm's practice license is revoked or practice certificate is cancelled by law, the judicial administrative organ that makes the revocation or penalty decision, or the lower-level judicial administrative organ entrusted by it, shall collect the practice certificate of the lawyer or law firm when announcing or serving the revocation or penalty decision, and cancel it according to the prescribed procedure.

Lawyers and law firms that terminate their practice for other reasons and need to cancel their practice certificates should return the certificates to the county (district) judicial administrative organ where they are located, which will then follow the prescribed procedures to have the original issuing organ cancel them.

Lawyers and law firms whose practice permits are revoked, whose practice certificates are revoked, or whose practice is terminated for other reasons, and who refuse to return their practice certificates, will have their practice certificates canceled by the original issuing organ through a public announcement.

Article 16: Provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal judicial administrative organs should promptly destroy canceled and invalidated practice certificates.

Article 17: Provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal judicial administrative organs should annually register and compile the issuance, cancellation, reissuance, replacement, invalidation, and destruction of practice certificates, fill out the Practice Certificate Issuance and Use Statistics Table, and submit it to the Ministry of Justice for the record.

Article 18: If a lawyer or law firm improperly manages or illegally uses a practice certificate, the county (district) judicial administrative organ where it is located shall give it a verbal warning and order it to correct its actions; in serious cases, the municipal-level or district (county) judicial administrative organ of the municipality under whose jurisdiction it falls shall impose appropriate penalties according to law.

Article 19: Judicial administrative organ staff who violate the provisions of the Lawyer Law, the Lawyer Practice Management Measures, the Law Firm Management Measures, and these Measures in the issuance and management of practice certificates, and who abuse their power or neglect their duties, shall be given administrative sanctions according to law; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.

Article 20: Judicial administrative organs should establish a lawyer and law firm practice certificate information management system, update it in a timely manner based on the issuance, cancellation, and other relevant changes of practice certificates, and provide relevant practice certificate information query services to citizens, legal persons, other social organizations, and state organs.

Article 21: The management of work certificates for public sector lawyers, company lawyers, and legal aid lawyers shall follow these Measures.

The management measures for military lawyer work certificates shall be formulated separately.

Article 22: These Measures shall come into effect from the date of their promulgation.