New Perspectives on Notarization System (Second Edition)

Author: Zhang Wencai, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The Law Department of Xiamen University (now the School of Law) was established in 1926 and has gone through many hardships and vicissitudes. Since its revival in 1979, the School of Law has always attached importance to improving the teaching quality of litigation law while closely monitoring and actively participating in the development of China's litigation legal system and the discipline of litigation law. In the past decade, the faculty of the School of Law has published and authored numerous monographs, textbooks, and academic papers covering civil litigation, criminal litigation, administrative litigation, maritime litigation, arbitration systems, bankruptcy systems, comparative litigation systems between the mainland and Taiwan, and judicial reforms, which have had a significant impact on the legal community. In 1999, with approval from the State Council Academic Degrees Office, Xiamen University began admitting master's students in litigation law. In May 2001, to meet the needs of litigation law teaching and research, elevate academic research standards, promote the development of the litigation law discipline, and contribute to China's ongoing judicial reforms, I initiated the compilation of the "Xiamen University School of Law Series on Litigation Law." Inspired by the civil judicial reforms in the United Kingdom during the 1990s, we titled this series "Access to Justice." The first series focuses on civil litigation law and includes eight titles: Civil Procedure Law, Studies on Civil Judicial Reform, Special Topics on Civil Evidence Law, New Perspectives on Arbitration Law, British Evidence Law, ADR Principles and Practice, Enforcement Law, and Studies on Bankruptcy Law. All eight titles were completed by June 2004, with seven of them being reprinted or revised subsequently. The publication of these books has garnered significant attention in the legal community, received praise from experts and readers, and has been adopted as textbooks by several law schools. In September 2002, the British Council and the British Embassy in China sent a congratulatory letter, highly praising the publication of British Evidence Law. In 2003, New Perspectives on Arbitration Law won the Second Prize of the Fifth Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award of Xiamen City, and British Evidence Law won the Third Prize of the Fifth Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award of Fujian Province. In 2004, Civil Procedure Law and British Evidence Law were awarded the "First China Outstanding Legal Book Award." The second series will build upon the writing style of the first while introducing developments and innovations. To adapt to the new trends of China's judicial reforms, this series will focus on judicial systems and reforms, with a planned nine titles: Program Justice and Judicial Reform, New Perspectives on Notarization, Studies on Environmental Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, Principles and Practice of Diverse Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, British Judicial System, American Judicial System, German Judicial System, Civil Pre-Trial Procedures, and Civil Litigation Systems in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, with an expected completion within three years. Notarization is an essential part of the judicial system, established by the state to ensure the correct implementation of laws, stabilize socio-economic and civil circulation orders, prevent disputes, reduce litigation, and protect citizens, legal persons, and other organizations. Since the implementation of reform and opening-up policies, the notarization system in China has made significant progress and has played a vital role in socio-economic life. However, it still has some shortcomings and cannot meet the needs of the socialist market economy. As a result, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has included the drafting of the Notarization Law in its legislative plan. This book series is the academic outcome of the Ministry of Justice's research project "Studies on Notarization and the Improvement of Bankruptcy Systems" (Approval No.: 03SFB3018), jointly completed by the Quanzhou Notary Public Office, the School of Law at Xiamen University, and the School of Law at Huaqiao University, with Zhang Wencai as the editor-in-chief. During the writing process, the authors collected, read, and translated a large amount of Chinese and English materials and held multiple thematic seminars to analyze difficult issues in notary practice. The book discusses the basic principles, systems, and main business of the notarization system, introduces the notarization systems in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, and the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao regions of China. On this basis, it draws on foreign experiences,, explores the basic ideas for reforming the notarization system, and proposes legislative recommendations for improving China's notarization system, incorporating the new draft of the Notarization Law. The publication of this series has been supported by the leadership of the School of Law at Xiamen University, Xiamen University Press, the Quanzhou Notary Public Office, and the Xiamen Arbitration Commission. We sincerely express our gratitude here. Despite great efforts, the shortcomings of this series are inevitable due to the authors' limited knowledge and capabilities. We kindly request criticism and corrections from experts and readers.