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Article 1. The present Measures are hereby formulated in accordance with the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China, the Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to the Lawyers Law), and other laws, regulations and the relevant provisions, for the purpose of regulating the supervision over and punishment on illegal acts of lawyers and law firms, and ensuring the healthy development of lawyer vocation. Article 2. The administrative departments of justice shall impose administrative punishment on the lawyers and law firms for their illegal acts in accordance with the relevant laws, regulations and the Provisions on the Procedures for Administrative Punishment of the Administrative Departments of Justice, and other rules, as well as the present Measures. Article 3. The administrative departments of justice shall follow the principle of openness and justice when imposing administrative punishment on lawyers and law firms. The administrative punishment shall be imposed according to the facts, and correspond with the facts, character, circumstance and destructive impact to society of the illegal acts. Article 4. When the administrative departments of justice are investigating into and imposing punishment on the lawyers and law firms for their illegal acts, they shall bring the functional role of a lawyers association into full play. Article 5. The kinds of administrative punishments that may be imposed on the lawyers for their illegal acts shall include: (1) Warning; (2) Confiscation of illegal gains; (3) Suspension of practicing as a lawyer; (4) Revocation of practicing certificate. Article 6. The kinds of administrative punishments that may be imposed on the law firms for their illegal acts shall include: (1) Warning; (2) Confiscation of illegal gains; (3) Suspension of business operation for reorganization; (4) Revocation of practicing certificate. Where a law firm is confiscated of illegal gains, it may be fined one time up to five times of the illegal gains concurrently. Article 7. Where a lawyer has committed the illegal acts prescribed in item 1 to item 10 of Article 44 and Article 45 of the Lawyers Law, the administrative departments of justice shall give him/her the corresponding punishment in accordance with the Lawyers Law and the present Measures. Article 8. Where a lawyer has committed any of the following acts, which fall within the "other acts that shall be punished" prescribed in item 11 of Article 44 of the Lawyers Law, the administrative departments of justice shall impose the corresponding punishment on him/her in accordance with the Lawyers Law and the present Measures: (1) Practicing concurrently at a law firm and other legal service institutions; (2) Acting concurrently as the attorney or defender for the client and the third party who has conflicts of interests with the client in the same case; (3) Acting as attorney or defender respectively for parties that have conflicts of interests in two or more cases that have relations of interests; (4) During the period of acting as a counselor of an entity, acting as attorney or defender for the other party opposite to the entity he/she is acting as a counselor for or the party having other conflicts of interests; (5) Making false commitment to clients for the purpose of competing and soliciting business; (6) Making false or improper propaganda through media, advertisement or other means; (7) Faking facts or disseminating false facts to damage or bespatter the reputation of other lawyers or law firms; (8) Conducting unjust competition by making use of his/her relations with any judicial department, administrative department, or other organization that has the function of public administration; (9) After accepting entrustment, failing to perform duties earnestly, and his/her act results in damage to the clients; (10) Failing to provide the legal service stipulated to the clients without justifiable reasons after accepting the entrustment; (11) Undertaking activities in no relation to the legal affair being entrusted to him/her by exceeding the power of entrustment; (12) Impairing the interests of the clients after accepting the entrustment, or colluding with the opposite party or the third party to infringe upon the interests of the clients willfully; (13) Intimidating or threatening clients to obstruct the clients from canceling the entrustment relations with him/her, or withholding the documents provided by the clients without justifiable reasons; (14) Asking for additional fees or property other than those prescribed in the provisions or stipulations from the clients in violation of the provisions on the administration of lawyers service charge or the stipulations of the charging contract; (15) Undertaking legal service in the identity of a non-lawyer during the practicing period; (16) Meeting the judges, procurators, arbitrators or other relevant staff members who undertake the case at the non-working hours or places during the period of undertaking a case, or meeting unilaterally the judges, procurators, arbitrators or other relevant staff members in violation of provisions; (17) A lawyer who has ever been a judge or procurator, and acts as an attorney or defender within two years after leaving such posts, or acts as the attorney or defender for the case he undertakes during the period of holding such posts; (18) Bringing the person of a non-lawyer to meet the suspects, defendants, or the criminals in custody in violation of provisions, or violating the relevant administration provisions in the meeting; (19) Providing false documents, disguising important facts to the administrative departments of justice or lawyers associations or having other acts of falsification; (20) Continuing to practice during the period of receiving the punishment of suspension of practicing, or practicing in the name of the former law firm after it has stopped business operation for rectification or after it has been written off; (21) Having other acts in violation of laws or contrary to the professional ethics of lawyers or ethical norms of citizens, which seriously impair the image of the lawyer vocation. Article 9. Where a law firm has committed any of the following acts, the administrative departments of justice of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall give it a warning, confiscate its illegal gains, or impose a punishment of suspension of business operation for rectification for over 3 months up to one year: (1) Engaging in activities using the name of a law firm that has not been checked and ratified, or altering or lending the name of the law firm without authorization; (2) Altering the name, charter, responsible person, partners, residence or the partnership agreement and other matters concerned, but failing to go through alteration registration within the prescribed time limit; (3) Obstructing partners, cooperators or lawyers from withdrawing from the firm by taking illegal means; (4) Developing the person not meeting the required conditions as a partner, cooperator, or electing him/her to be the responsible person of the law firm; (5) Failing to accept entrustment, sign written entrustment contract, or charging contract uniformly as required, or collect uniformly various fees paid by the clients, or failing to keep or use uniformly the documents, financial bills, or business archives used specially for lawyers service as required; (6) Failing to issue legal vouchers for lawyer service charge to the clients, or failing to submit the effective certificates of expenditure for case handling fees to the clients; (7) Enlarging the scope of charging, or increasing the charging standard without authorization and in violation of the provisions on the administration of lawyers service charge or the stipulations of charging contract, or asking for fees other than those in the prescriptions or stipulations; (8) Establishing offices or reception rooms at the place other than its residence without approval or authorization, or establishing branches without authorization; (9) Failing to sign engagement contract with the employee prescribed when engaging a lawyer or other personnel, and failing to handle social security insurance, which is planned as a whole; (10) Evading debts of the law firm or its branches willfully; (11) Making false or improper propaganda through media, advertisement or other means; (12) Competing and canvassing business by ways of paying introductory fees, giving discount or promising to give interests and other illegal means; (13) Making unfair competition by making use of its relations with any department of justice, administrative department or other organization that has functions of public administration; (14) Faking facts or disseminating false facts to impair or bespatter the reputation of other law firms or lawyers; (15) Accrediting the lawyers of its own firm in one case to act as an attorney or defender for both parties or for the parties having conflicts of interests, unless there is only one law firm in the respective county or city, and the two parties have agreed on it; (16) Revealing the commercial secret or personal privacy of the parties; (17)Providing false certificate documents or disguising important facts to the administrative departments of justice or lawyers associations or having other falsification acts; (18) Permitting or conniving with the lawyers of its firm who have been given the punishment of suspension of practicing to continue to practice; (19) Providing convenience for illegal practicing of person who has not obtained the certificate of practicing of a lawyer or for lawyers of other law firms by ways of issuing or providing recommendation of the law firm or documents, charging notes used specially for lawyers service and other means; (20) Printing or making business cards and symbols of a lawyer for persons who have not obtained the certificate of practicing of a lawyer, or issuing other relevant identity certificate of a lawyer for them, or having known of the above-mentioned acts of a person in its own firm but not stopping him/her. (21) Permitting or conniving with the lawyers of its firm to purchase commodities for the judges, procurators or arbitrators undertaking the case, or paying for their traveling, applying for reimbursement, fitting houses or providing vehicles or communications tools for them; (22) Failing to pay taxes according to law; or (23) Other acts that shall be punished. Article 10. Where a law firm is under any of the following circumstances, the administrative departments of justice of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall impose upon it the punishment of revocation of the certificate of practicing. If it has any illegal gains, they shall be confiscated, and a fine shall be imposed concurrently: (1) Refusing to correct after being imposed a punishment of stopping business for rectification, or continuing to practice during the period of stopping business for rectification; (2) Making bribery to judges, procurators, arbitrators or other relevant staff members; (3) Being subject to a criminal penalty; or (4) Having other illegal acts that seriously damage the image of lawyer vocation. Article 11. In case any lawyer or law firm has any illegal act prescribed in the Lawyers Law and the present Measures, the administrative departments of justice shall, once finding out or receiving the relevant complaints from clients, make investigation into it by putting it on records, and find out the facts entirely, objectively and fairly, and collect the relevant testimony. The lawyer and law firm undergoing the investigation shall represent facts according to the truth to the investigation organ, and provide the relevant documents. Article 12. The administrative departments of justice may entrust lawyers associations to make investigation into the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms. The lawyers association that accepts the entrustment shall find out the facts entirely, objectively or fairly, collect the relevant testimony and put forward suggestions on imposing administrative punishment to the administrative departments of justice. Article 13. Before planning to make administrative punishment decision on lawyers or law firms, the administrative departments of justice shall notify them of the facts of their illegal acts found, the reasons and basis for the punishment, and notify the parties of the rights they enjoy. In case of an oral notification, notes shall be taken down. The lawyers or the law firms shall have the right to make statement and averment, and have the right to apply for hearing according to law. In case the lawyers and the law firms are dissatisfied with the administrative punishment, they shall have the right to apply according to law for administrative reconsideration or lodge an administrative complaint. Article 14. Where a lawyers association finds out circumstances that shall be given administrative punishment according to the Lawyers Law and the present Measures when investigating into and punishing the acts of the lawyers or law firms in violation of professional ethics or practicing disciplines, it shall submit it to the administrative departments of justice who have the jurisdictions for handling. Article 15. Where in the process of investigating into and punishing the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms, the administrative departments of justice or the lawyers associations believe that their acts have constituted crimes, they shall transfer the case to the relevant departments for prosecution of criminal liabilities according to law. Article 16. The power to interpret the present Measures shall remain with the Ministry of Justice. Article 17. The present Measures shall be implemented as of May 1, 2004. The Measures for Punishing the Illegal Acts of Lawyers, which were promulgated by the Ministry of Justice on January 31, 1997, shall be repealed simultaneously. |
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