A summary of how lawyers handle notarization and authentication procedures for cases involving Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan

The so-called entrusted notarization means that Hong Kong lawyers with certain conditions accept the entrustment of the Ministry of Justice to prove the legality and authenticity of legal acts, facts and documents that have legal significance in Hong Kong according to legal procedures at the request of the parties concerned. The Ministry of Justice will announce the list of notarized lawyers appointed in Hong Kong in due course. If legal documents produced in Hong Kong need to be used in China, the parties may entrust lawyers to notarize them according to the list. After completing the notarization procedures, the notarized legal documents need to be sent to China Legal Service (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., an organization sponsored by the all china lawyers association and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, which provides various services and assistance in China law for Chinese-funded institutions in Hong Kong, Hong Kong compatriots, overseas Chinese and foreigners engaged in economic and trade activities with China. At present, the organization's office address is located in China Resources Building, Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Notarized legal documents can only be used in domestic courts after being stamped with the transmission stamp by the institution. At this point, the notarization and authentication procedures involving Hong Kong have been completed. 2. In the process of notarization and authentication of legal documents related to Hong Kong, it is necessary to entrust a Macao notary lawyer designated by the Ministry of Justice of China to do notarization first, but there is no clear requirement on whether it is necessary to go to China Legal Service (Macau) Co., Ltd. to affix a seal like Hong Kong. In addition, because the number of Macao notary lawyers appointed by the Ministry of Justice is not large at present, it still remains at the single-digit level, so the parties can also go directly to the local notary office in Macao for notarization. 3. Notarization and authentication procedures for Taiwan-related legal documents For legal documents from Taiwan Province Province, they must first be notarized by the local notary office in Taiwan Province Province. After notarization, the notarized copy will be sent to the Mainland Notary Association for certification, and the certified legal documents can be used in the Mainland. Due to some special reasons between the mainland and Taiwan Province Province, there is no official cooperation between the two places. Only the notary associations in the two places maintain this kind of business exchange, and legal documents issued by private and unofficial institutions must be sent to mainland courts for use in this way. For those official documents from Taiwan Province Province, notarization is not required, but they must be forwarded to the mainland through the Cross-Strait Exchange Foundation (hereinafter referred to as SEF). Otherwise, if they arrive in the mainland by ordinary mail, the mainland courts will not recognize them. In other words, SEF is an intermediary, which is recognized and trusted by both mainland China and Taiwan Province Province. This is a special point different from Hong Kong and Macao.