After more than two decades of resumed development of the
notarization system, legal professionals are demanding the early
promulgation of a national law.
"A
uniform national law on notarization should define the profession's
nature, functions and business scope and responsibilities of
notaries," said Ma Yu'e, of the China Notaries' Association.
China's current regulation on notarization was announced 20 years
ago when notarization, like the lawyer's profession, had just
emerged out of the destruction of the "cultural revolution"
(1966-1976) and started its recovery.
According to Ma, now that notaries have re-established themselves
as the intermediaries instead of their past role as "civil
servants," the 1982 regulation is redundant.
"The notarization system has undergone great changes in China since
the early 1980s," said Huang Anjiang, with the Beijing-based
Chang'an Notary Office. "With the increasing market demand due to
the improved awareness of laws among the public, it has become a
pressing task for the law to come out at an early date."
Increasingly more Chinese now resort to notarization as a way to
prevent possible disputes, such as notarizations of ante-marital
properties and notarizations before surgery. Statistics from the
Ministry of Justice indicate that the nation's approximately 10,000
notaries provide more than 10 million notarizations annually, most
of which are in the economic and civil fields.
"Many laws have already included clauses on notarization in their
respective fields, and, in practice, notarizations are also
required in many situations," said Jiang Wei, a law professor at
the Renmin
University of China. "And we are bound to see more similar
clauses in laws. These have provided the basis for a law on
notarization."
China's Adoption Law, for example, states foreign adoptive parents
who ask for notarization for the adoption should go to notary
offices that have been recognized by the judicial administrative
departments under the State Council as qualified for handling
overseas business.
Suggestions for the legislature's efforts on the notarization
system have been submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC),
China's top law-making body, in the form of motions from its
deputies.
Sources with the NPC said the body has already included a new law
on notarization in its current legislation plan, which will come to
fruition in March next year. Now with the relevant parties working
on the draft of the national law, the NPC has pledged it will work
for its early promulgation.
Despite the absence of a national law, 19 provinces and cities -
including economically advanced Shanghai and Shenzhen, a coastal
city in South China's Guangdong Province - already have their own
local regulations concerning notarization.
According to Ma, these local regulations stipulate the nature,
duties, obligations and business scope of the notaries.
They also stipulate some situations where notarizations are a must,
such as in the cases of the transfer of real estate.
(China
Daily February 25, 2002)