Laws of the People's Republic of China

No. 106

The Decision of the Ministry of Justice Concerning the Amendment of the Measures for Administering Associations Formed by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms, has been adopted at the executive meeting of the Ministry of Justice upon deliberation on December 1, 2006. It is hereby promulgated, and shall enter into force on January 1, 2007. Minister Wu Aiying

December 22, 2006

Decision of the Ministry of Justice Concerning the Amendment of the Measures for Administering Associations Formed by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms

For the purpose of promoting the closer economic relationship between Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland, and in accordance with the Supplementary Agreement III Concerning the Arrangement of Hong Kong/Mainland Closer Economic Relationship and the Supplementary Agreement III Concerning the Arrangement of Macao/Mainland Closer Economic Relationship as approved by the State Council, we decided to amend Article 6 in the Measures for the Administration of the Representative Offices Stationed in the Mainland of China by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region as follows: "A Mainland law firm may apply for association under the following conditions: (1) It has been set up for three years or more; and (2) It has no record of administrative sanction or guild punishment within 2 years prior to its applying for association. No branch of a Mainland law firm may, as one party to the association, apply for association."

The present Decision shall enter into force as of January 1, 2007.

The Measures for the Administration of the Representative Offices Stationed in the Mainland of China by Law Firms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region (Promulgated by Order No.70 of the Ministry of Justice and Amended by Order No. 84 of the Ministry of Justice) shall be revised correspondingly in accordance with the present Decision and promulgated again.