Often as we assist clients in establishing a new China company, or assist with a client’s marriage or divorce, the question arises whether certain documents must be notarized. Notarization is a very different process in China than in the USA. We will briefly review here the major questions about notarization in China.
Notarization has a very specific definition under Chinese law. Notarization is defined as “An act performed by a notary office to certify the authenticity and legality of a civil act, a fact of legal significance, or a document.” In other words, notarization is an act performed by an approved notary to affirm a legal act, fact, or the validity of a document. This is relatively similar with the role of a notary in other countries.
Chinese law has very specific rules about what may be legally notarized. These include:
1. Matters that may be registered by a notary office under laws or regulations;
2. Preservation of evidence;
3. Preservation of wills, other property, articles and documents;
Notarization may be desirable in many situations, not least of which is preservation of evidence. Notarization plays a very important role in collecting evidence in China because guidance issued by the People’s Supreme Court has indicated that “notarized evidence has a stronger probative force than other documentary evidence” and this should be considered by the judge. Because notarization is the legal process of affirming the truthfulness of an act, a fact, or a document, notarized documents are often relied on as truthful by judges in Chinese courts. Our China lawyers often advise clients have important evidence notarized to preserve evidence for potential future litigation. For example, a webpage containing information relating to infringement of a client’s intellectual property may be notarized to preserve that evidence for later submission to a court.
Client’s should keep in mind that for evidence generated overseas, notarization will always be required. Without proper notarization in the foreign country, such evidence may not be admitted in Chinese court.
Notarization in China also service to increase the legal effect of certain documents. For example, a notarized will has legal validity and may not be revoked or changed by any document that is not also notarized. Where there is a notarized document containing a promised right or obligation, such document may be enforced directly by the court without need for a separate litigation to determine the validity of the right or obligation.