Procedure for practice approval of representatives of foreign law firms in China

I. Rules concerning the practice approval

Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China requires foreign law firms to set up representative offices and dispatch representatives in China with approval from the judicial administration department of the State Council.

Article 9 of the Regulations: the judicial administration departments of the governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government should complete the examination within 3 months after receiving the application documents and materials. The State Council’s judicial administration department should make a decision within 6 months. The approved representative office and its representatives should be issued licenses and certificates, while for the unapproved ones, the applicant should be informed of the reasons for the rejection in writing.

Article 1 of the rules released by the Ministry of Justice on the implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China: the rules are formulated for the implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China by judicial administrative departments to administrate foreign law services in Chinese territory.

II Application materials

(1) The list of application materials

1. The review of the change of chief representative of the representative office of foreign law firms in China

2．Verification of new representatives of the foreign law office in China

3．Review on removal of the representative of the foreign law office in China

Process diagram