Revised law encourages lawyers to engage in international exchanges

A newly revised law adopted by Chinese legislators on Friday encourages lawyers to intensify international exchanges and provide support for developing foreign-related legal services.

The amended lawyers law was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body on Friday before the conclusion of its latest session.

Under the revised law, it is stated that greater support is required to develop foreign-related legal professionals and boost law firms' capabilities in cross-border legal services. Through robust institutional frameworks, the law is designed to facilitate the upgrading and efficiency of the foreign-related legal sector, thereby supporting China's high-quality development and high-level opening-up.

The amended law, which will take effect on Sept 1, also sets out rules for the practice of lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, marking the transition of an earlier pilot program into a statutory provision.

The pilot scheme, which was first authorized by the NPC Standing Committee in August 2020, allowed legal practitioners from Hong Kong and Macao to practice in cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. All are in the GBA.

To date, more than 600 Hong Kong and Macao legal practitioners have worked as lawyers across the nine cities in Guangdong province, playing a big role in handling foreign-related disputes, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee said in a statement on Friday.

The commission noted that including the achievements of the pilot program into the law will attract more Hong Kong and Macao lawyers to participate in China's rule of law development, as well as firmly backing the "one country, two systems" policy.

The current lawyers law, which was passed in 1996, had been amended four times before the latest revision.