Measures for the Punishment of Illegal Acts of Lawyers and Law Firms

No. 122

The Measures for the Punishment of Illegal Acts of Lawyers and Law Firms, as deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of the Ministry of Justice on April 7, 2010, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force on June 1, 2010.

Measures for the Punishment of Illegal Acts of Lawyers and Law Firms

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Lawyers Law of the the People's Republic of China Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Lawyers Law) and the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Punishment Law) for the purpose of strengthening the supervision over the practicing activities of lawyers and law firms, regulating the practicing behaviors of lawyers and maintaining the normal order of legal services.

Article 2 If a lawyer or a law firm has committed an illegal act and should be given an administrative penalty, the judicial administrative organ shall impose an administrative penalty in accordance with the Lawyers Law, the Administrative Penalty Law, the relevant laws, regulations, rules and the provisions of these Measures.

Article 3 when imposing administrative penalties, judicial administrative organs shall follow the principles of fairness and openness; they shall be based on facts and shall be commensurate with the nature, circumstances and degree of social harm of illegal acts; they shall adhere to the combination of punishment and education, educate and guide lawyers and law firms to practice in accordance with the law, and abide by professional ethics and discipline.

Article 4 The judicial administrative organs shall establish and improve the supervision system for administrative punishment. The judicial administrative organ at the next higher level shall strengthen the supervision and guidance of the administrative punishment imposed by the judicial administrative organ at the next lower level, and shall promptly order and correct the administrative punishment if it is found to be illegal or improper.

If a staff member of a judicial administrative organ commits any violation of law or discipline in the course of imposing administrative penalties, he shall be given administrative sanctions in accordance with the law; if the case constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.

Chapter II Illegal Acts to be Punished by Lawyers

Article 5 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "practicing in two or more law firms at the same time" as stipulated in Item 1 of Article 47 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) practicing in a law firm and at the same time practicing in another law firm or a social legal service institution;

The (II) undertakes business in the name of the lawyer of the law firm to be changed before the change of practice institution is approved, or still undertakes business in the name of the lawyer of the original law firm after the change is approved.

Article 6 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "undertaking business by improper means" as stipulated in Item 2 of Article 47 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) undertakes business by means of misleading, inducement, threat or false promise;

The (II) undertakes business by paying referral fees, giving kickbacks, promising to provide benefits, etc;

(III) to undertake business by means of untruthful or inappropriate publicity or denigration of other lawyers or law firms;

(IV) setting up an office or reception room outside the residence of a law firm to undertake business.

Article 7 under any of the following circumstances, it shall be an illegal act of a lawyer "acting as an agent for both parties in the same case, or acting as an agent for legal affairs in which there is a conflict of interest with himself and his close relatives" as stipulated in paragraph 3 of Article 47 of the lawyers Law:

(I) acting as an agent or providing relevant legal services for a party with a conflict of interest in the same civil litigation, administrative litigation or non-litigation legal affairs at the same time;

In the same criminal case, the (II) acts as a defender or agent for the defendant and the victim at the same time, or acts as a defender for two or more criminal suspects or defendants at the same time;

(III) providing legal services to a party who has a conflict of interest with the consulting unit while serving as a legal adviser;

(IV) a lawyer who has served as a judge or prosecutor and, in the capacity of agent or defender, undertakes cases handled by the court or procuratorate in which he previously held office;

(V) a lawyer who has served as an arbitrator or is still serving as an arbitrator, acts as an agent to undertake cases handled by the arbitration institution in which he previously or currently holds office.

Article 8 A lawyer who once served as a judge or prosecutor, who, within two years after leaving office from the people's court or the people's procuratorate, acts as an agent ad litem, a defender or otherwise participates in the litigation legal affairs undertaken by his law firm, shall be an illegal act of "acting as an agent ad litem or defender within two years after leaving office from the people's court or the people's procuratorate" as stipulated in item 4 of Article 47 of the Lawyers Law.

Article 9 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "refusing to perform the obligation of legal aid" as stipulated in Item 5 of Article 47 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) refuse to accept a legal aid case assigned by a law firm or a legal aid institution without justifiable reasons;

After the (II) accepts the assignment, slack to perform or arbitrarily stop performing legal aid duties.

Article 10 under any of the following circumstances, it belongs to the illegal act of a lawyer "accepting entrustment, collecting fees, accepting property or other interests of the client without permission" as stipulated in paragraph 1 of Article 48 of the lawyers Law:

(I), in violation of the unified provisions on accepting entrustment or during the period of suspension of practice, privately accept entrustment to undertake legal affairs;

(II) who, in violation of the charge management regulations, privately collect, use or embezzle the lawyer's service fee and the lawyer's travel expenses for handling cases in different places;

(III) to ask the client for other fees, property or property or obtain other benefits in addition to the unified fees charged by the law firm;

(IV) demand fees from the recipient of legal aid or accept the recipient's property or other benefits.

Article 11 After accepting the entrustment, a lawyer who refuses to defend or represent, and fails to appear in court on time to participate in litigation or arbitration, except for the following circumstances, shall be an illegal act as stipulated in Item 2 of Article 48 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) the entrusted matter is illegal, or the client uses the legal services provided by the lawyer to engage in illegal activities;

The (II) client intentionally conceals important facts related to the case or provides false or forged evidence materials;

The (III) principal fails to perform the obligations stipulated in the entrustment contract;

A (IV) lawyer suffers from a serious illness or is subject to an administrative penalty of suspension of practice or above;

(V) other may refuse to defend or represent in accordance with the law.

Article 12 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "using the convenience of providing legal services to seek the disputed rights and interests of the parties" as stipulated in Article 48 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) the use of inducement, deception, coercion, extortion and other means to obtain the property, rights and interests of the parties and others dispute;

(II) instis or induce the parties to transfer, sell or lease the property or rights and interests in dispute to others and obtain benefits from them.

Article 13 Without the authorization or consent of the client or other parties, a lawyer discloses or disseminates the business secrets, personal privacy or other unwillingness of the client or other parties known in the practice without authorization or consent during or after the end of the case, It is an illegal act of "divulging business secrets or personal privacy" as stipulated in Item 4 of Article 48 of the Lawyers Law.

Article 14 under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer as stipulated in paragraph 1 of Article 49 of the lawyers Law to "meet judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other relevant staff in violation of regulations, or to influence the handling of cases in accordance with the law in other improper ways:

(I) meeting judges, prosecutors, arbitrators or other relevant staff in non-working hours or non-workplace for the purpose of affecting the outcome of the case during the period of undertaking agency and defense services;

(II) taking advantage of their special relationship with judges, procurators, arbitrators or other relevant working personnel to influence the handling of cases according to law;

(III) affecting the handling of a case in accordance with the law by distorting, untrue, or misleading propaganda or slandering the reputation of the relevant case-handling agency and staff and the other party.

Article 15 under any of the following circumstances, a lawyer shall be an illegal act of "bribing judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other relevant staff members, introducing bribes or instiling or inducing the parties to bribe" as stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 49 of the lawyers Law:

(I) take advantage of the judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other staff members or their close relatives to hold weddings and funerals and other occasions to bribe them by giving them gifts, money, securities, etc;

(II) bribing judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other staff members by means of renovating their homes, reimbursing personal expenses, subsidizing tourism and entertainment, etc;

(III) bribing judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other staff members by providing means of transportation, means of communication, housing or other goods;

(IV) directly bribe or introduce bribes to judges, prosecutors, arbitrators and other staff members, or instigate or induce parties to bribe for the purpose of influencing the outcome of the case.

Article 16 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "providing false materials to the judicial administration department or committing other fraudulent acts" as stipulated in Item 3 of Article 49 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) concealing the true situation from judicial administrative organs in the course of inspection and supervision, refusing to provide or providing false or false materials, or concealing, destroying or falsifying evidential materials;

(II) providing false, false or forged materials or engaging in other fraudulent acts in participating in the annual assessment, practice evaluation and evaluation of lawyers' practice;

The (III) provides false, false or forged materials when applying for changing the practice institution, going through the formalities of termination and cancellation of practice.

Article 17 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "intentionally providing false evidence or threatening or inducing others to provide false evidence to hinder the other party from legally obtaining evidence" as stipulated in Article 49, paragraph 4 of the Lawyers Law:

A (I) intentionally submits false evidence to a judicial organ, an administrative organ or an arbitration institution, or instigates, threatens or induces others to provide false evidence with promise of promise;

(II) instructing or helping a client or another person to forge, conceal or destroy evidence, instigating or helping a criminal suspect or defendant to collude with confessions, threatening or inducing a witness not to testify or to give false testimony;

(III) obstructing the other party, his agent or defender from lawfully collecting evidence, or preventing others from providing evidence to the case handling organ or the other party.

Article 18 under any of the following circumstances, a lawyer as stipulated in paragraph 5 of Article 49 of the lawyers Law shall "accept the property or other interests of the other party, maliciously collude with the other party or a third party, and infringe upon the rights and interests of the client:

(I) providing information or evidentiary materials unfavorable to the client to the other party or a third party;

The (II) colludes with the other party or a third party in bad faith or cooperates secretly to hinder the client from legally exercising his rights;

(III) accepting the property or other interests of the other party, deliberately delaying, slacking off or failing to perform the duties of agency and defense in accordance with the law, causing adverse effects and losses to the client and the handling of the entrusted matters.

Article 19 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "disturbing the order of a court or an arbitration tribunal and interfering with the normal conduct of litigation or arbitration activities" as stipulated in Article 49, Item 6 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) making or instigating or inducing the client to make remarks in a court or arbitration that disrupt the normal conduct of litigation or arbitration activities;

(II) preventing the client or other participants in the proceedings from appearing in court, so that the litigation or arbitration activities cannot be carried out normally;

(III) instigate or abet others to disturb the order of the court or the arbitration tribunal;

(IV), without justifiable reasons, refuse to defend or represent in court, refuse to sign for judicial documents or refuse to sign opinions on relevant litigation documents.

Article 20 under any of the following circumstances, it belongs to the illegal act of "inciting or abetting the parties to resolve disputes by illegal means such as disturbing public order and endangering public security" as stipulated in paragraph 7 of Article 49 of the lawyers Law:

(I) inciting or abetting the parties to use illegal gatherings, processions and demonstrations, gathering crowds to disrupt public order and traffic order, besieging or attacking state agencies and other illegal means to express their demands, obstructing state agencies and their staff from performing their duties in accordance with the law, and resisting law enforcement activities or judgments Execution;

(II) use the media or other means to incite or abet the parties to interfere with the normal conduct of litigation, arbitration and administrative law enforcement activities by disturbing public order or endangering public security.

Article 21 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a lawyer "publishing remarks that endanger national security, maliciously slander others, or seriously disrupt court order" as stipulated in Item 8 of Article 49 of the Lawyers Law:

(I), during the period of undertaking agency or defense business, publishing or disseminating remarks that endanger national security, maliciously slander judges, prosecutors, arbitrators, opposing parties, or third parties, and seriously disrupt court order;

(II), during the period of practice, publish, produce, disseminate speech, information, audio-visual products that endanger national security, or support, participate in, or carry out activities for the purpose of endangering national security.

Article 22 A lawyer who, in violation of the provisions of the obligation of confidentiality, intentionally or negligently divulges state secrets he knows in his practice shall be an illegal act of "divulging state secrets" as stipulated in Item 9 of Article 49 of the Lawyers Law.

Chapter III Illegal Acts to be Punished by Law Firms

Article 23 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a law firm "accepting entrustment and collecting fees in violation of regulations" as stipulated in Item 1 of Article 50 of the Lawyers Law:

In violation of the regulations, the (I) fails to accept the entrustment in the name of the law firm, collect the lawyer's service fee and the lawyer's travel expenses for handling cases in different places, and fails to issue a valid charging certificate to the client;

(II) to demand or accept from the principal expenses, property or other benefits other than those stipulated in the regulations or the contract;

The (III) connives at or indulge the lawyers of this firm in the illegal acts stipulated in Article 10 of these Measures.

Article 24 under any of the following circumstances, the illegal act of a law firm as stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 50 of the lawyers Law "in violation of legal procedures to change its name, responsible person, articles of association, partnership agreement, domicile, partner and other major matters:

The (I) fails to apply for approval or record the change of the name, person in charge, articles of association, partnership agreement, domicile, partner, organizational form and other matters of the law firm in accordance with the prescribed procedures;

The (II) does not develop partners in accordance with the prescribed conditions and procedures, handles the withdrawal or removal of partners, or selects the person in charge of a law firm;

The (III) does not handle the division, merger, establishment of branch offices, or termination, liquidation or cancellation of law firms in accordance with the prescribed procedures.

Article 25 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a law firm "engaging in business activities other than legal services" as stipulated in Item 3 of Article 50 of the Lawyers Law:

The (I) establishes the enterprise by means of sole proprietorship, joint venture with others or entrusted shareholding, and appoints a lawyer as the legal representative or general manager of the enterprise;

(II) engaged in intermediary services or other business activities unrelated to legal services.

Article 26 where a law firm engages in or connives at or lets its lawyers engage in the illegal acts stipulated in Article 6 of these measures, it belongs to the illegal act of a law firm "undertaking business by slandering other law firms, lawyers or paying introduction fees and other improper means as stipulated in Article 50, paragraph 4, of the lawyers Law.

Article 27 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a law firm "accepting cases with conflicts of interest in violation of regulations" as stipulated in Item 5 of Article 50 of the Lawyers Law:

The (I) appoints the lawyer of the firm to act as the agent of the plaintiff or the defendant in the same litigation case, or as the defender of the defendant or the agent of the victim in the same criminal case;

The (II) fails to examine the conflict of interest of the entrusted matters in accordance with the provisions, and appoints a lawyer to act as an agent or provide relevant legal services for the parties to the non litigation legal affairs with conflict of interest at the same time or successively;

The (III), knowing that the lawyers and their close relatives of the firm have a conflict of interest with the entrusted matter, still assigns the lawyers to act as agents, defenders or provide relevant legal services;

The (IV) connives at or indulge the lawyers of this firm to commit the illegal acts stipulated in Article 7 of these Measures.

Article 28 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a law firm "refusing to perform legal aid obligations" as stipulated in Article 50, Item 6 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) refuses to accept a legal aid case assigned by a legal aid institution without justifiable reasons;

After accepting the assignment, the (II) fails to arrange the lawyers of the institute to handle legal aid cases in a timely manner or refuses to provide conditions and facilities for the handling of legal aid cases;

The (III) connives at or allows the lawyers of this firm to commit the illegal acts stipulated in Article 9 of these Measures.

Article 29 Under any of the following circumstances, it is an illegal act of a law firm "providing false materials to the judicial administration department or committing other fraudulent acts" as stipulated in Item 7 of Article 50 of the Lawyers Law:

(I) deliberately concealing the true situation, refusing to provide relevant materials or providing false or false materials, or concealing, destroying or falsifying evidential materials in the course of inspection and supervision by judicial administrative organs;

(II) providing false, false, or forged materials or committing other fraudulent acts in participating in the annual inspection and assessment, practice evaluation, and evaluation of law firms;

(III) provide false, false or forged certification materials or engage in other fraudulent acts in the process of handling major changes, establishment of branch offices, division, merger or termination, liquidation or cancellation of law firms.

Article 30 under any of the following circumstances, causing serious consequences and adverse effects, it belongs to the illegal act of a law firm "neglecting the management of its lawyers and causing serious consequences" as stipulated in item 8 of Article 50 of the lawyers Law:

(I) failing to establish and improve the internal management system in accordance with the provisions, and the daily management is lax and chaotic, resulting in the failure of the law firm to operate normally;

The (II) fails to exercise effective supervision over the practice of lawyers in accordance with the provisions, or connives at, protects or covers up the lawyers' activities in violation of law and discipline, resulting in serious consequences;

(III) connives at or allows lawyers to continue to practice during the period of suspension of business for rectification or during the period of suspension of practice;

The (IV) does not accept the annual inspection and assessment according to the provisions, or is assessed as "unqualified" after the annual inspection and assessment;

(V) fail to establish a labor contract system in accordance with regulations, and fail to handle unemployment, pension, medical and other social insurance for the employment of lawyers and auxiliary personnel in accordance with the law;

(VI) there are other violations of laws and regulations, resulting in serious consequences.

Chapter IV Implementation of Administrative Punishment

Article 31 Where a judicial administrative organ imposes a warning, a fine, confiscation of illegal income or suspension of practice on a lawyer's illegal act, the punishment shall be imposed by the judicial administrative organ at the city level divided into districts or at the district (county) directly under the Central Government where the lawyer's practice institution is located; where the punishment is revoked, the punishment shall be imposed by the judicial administrative organ of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government that permits the lawyer to practice.

If the judicial administrative organ gives warning, fine, confiscation of illegal income or suspension of business for rectification on the illegal acts of a law firm, it shall be implemented by the judicial administrative organ of the city divided into districts or districts (counties) directly under the central government where the law firm is located; if the punishment of revoking the practice license is given, it shall be implemented by the judicial administrative organ of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government that permits the law firm to establish.

Article 32 If a lawyer has committed any illegal act as stipulated in Article 47 of the Lawyers Law and Articles 5 to 9 of these Measures, the judicial administrative organ shall give a warning and may impose a fine of less than 5,000 yuan; if there is any illegal income, the illegal income shall be confiscated; if the circumstances are serious, the punishment of suspending practice for less than three months shall be imposed.

If a lawyer commits any illegal act as stipulated in Article 48 of the Lawyers Law and Articles 10 to 13 of these Measures, the judicial administrative organ shall give a warning and may impose a fine of less than 10,000 yuan; if there is any illegal income, the illegal income shall be confiscated; if the circumstances are serious, a penalty of suspension of practice for not less than three months but not more than six months shall be imposed.

If a lawyer commits any of the illegal acts stipulated in Article 49 of the Lawyers Law and Articles 14 to 22 of these Measures, the judicial administrative organ shall impose a penalty of suspending practice for not less than six months but not more than one year, and may impose a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan. If there are any illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; If the circumstances are serious, the lawyer's practice certificate shall be revoked; If a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law.

Article 33 If a law firm has any illegal act specified in Article 50 of the Lawyers Law and Articles 23 to 30 of these Measures, the judicial administrative organ shall, depending on the circumstances, give a warning, suspend business for more than one month and less than six months for rectification, and may impose a fine of less than 100,000 yuan. If there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; If the circumstances are especially serious, the practice license of the law firm shall be revoked.

Article 34 Judicial administrative organs shall impose administrative penalties on the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms in accordance with the Administrative Penalty Law, the Lawyers Law, the provisions of the Ministry of Justice on administrative penalty procedures and the provisions of these Measures.

Article 35: Lawyers and law firms shall have the right to make statements, the right to defend, and the right to request a hearing on administrative penalties imposed by judicial administrative agencies; if they are not satisfied with the administrative penalty decision, they shall have the right to apply for administrative reconsideration or bring an administrative lawsuit in accordance with the law; due to judicial administration If the administrative penalty imposed by the agency has been damaged in violation of the law, it shall have the right to request compensation in accordance with the law.

Article 36 When imposing administrative penalties, judicial administrative organs shall conduct a comprehensive, objective and impartial investigation and verification of the facts and evidence of the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms, and may conduct inspection in accordance with the law when necessary.

In the investigation of illegal acts, the lawyer or law firm under investigation may be required to explain the situation and submit relevant materials; the relevant business files and archives of the law firm may be accessed; the relevant units and individuals may be investigated to verify the situation and collect evidence; the evidence that may be lost or difficult to obtain in the future may be registered and kept in advance.

The judicial administrative organ may entrust the judicial administrative organ at the next lower level or the judicial administrative organ in the place where the illegal act occurred to conduct the investigation, and may also entrust the lawyers association to assist in the investigation.

Article 37 The specific application of administrative penalties shall be determined by the judicial administrative organs in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Lawyers Law and these Measures, based on the facts, nature, circumstances and degree of harm of the illegal acts of lawyers and law firms, and in the statutory types of penalties. And within the scope of the range of discretion, make a specific penalty decision.

A lawyer shall be given a warning, suspension of practice, or revocation of a lawyer's practice certificate, and a law firm shall be given a warning, suspension of business for rectification, or revocation of a law firm's practice license, and a fine may be imposed as appropriate; if there is any illegal income, the illegal income shall be confiscated.

Article 38 A lawyer or a law firm may be given a lighter or mitigated administrative punishment in any of the following circumstances:

(I) take the initiative to eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of illegal acts;

(II) reporting on their own initiative and actively cooperating with judicial and administrative organs in investigating and dealing with illegal acts;

(III) being coerced by others to commit illegal acts;

(IV) others that should be given a lighter or mitigated punishment according to law.

If the illegal act is minor and promptly corrected, and no harmful consequences are caused, no administrative penalty shall be imposed.

Article 39: If a lawyer or law firm's illegal act has one of the following circumstances, it belongs to the "Lawyers Law" that the illegal circumstances are serious or the circumstances are particularly serious, and the punishment shall be heavier within the scope of the statutory administrative punishment type and range:

(I) illegal act causes heavy losses to the party concerned, a third party or the public interest;

The nature and circumstances of the (II) illegal act are bad, which seriously damages the image of the lawyer industry and causes bad social impact;

(III) there are two or more illegal acts at the same time or the amount of money involved in the violation is huge;

(IV) refuse to correct or continue to commit illegal acts, refuse to submit, conceal or destroy evidence, or provide false or forged evidence during the period when the judicial administrative organs investigate and deal with illegal acts;

(V) other should be severely punished according to law.

Article 40 If a lawyer should be given a warning penalty within one year after receiving the warning penalty, he shall be given a penalty of suspension of practice for not less than three months but not more than one year; if the period of suspension of practice penalty is not expired or within two years after the expiration of the period, the lawyer's practice certificate shall be revoked.

If a law firm is subject to the penalty of suspension of business for rectification before the expiration of the time limit or within two years after the expiration of the time limit, the law firm's practice license shall be revoked.

Article 41 Where a law firm is punished for an illegal act, the judicial administrative organ shall, in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 50 of the Lawyers Law, impose corresponding administrative penalties on the person in charge of the firm according to his management responsibility and the seriousness of the dereliction of duty.

If a law firm is punished for an illegal act, the legal liability of the lawyer who is directly responsible shall be investigated at the same time, and corresponding administrative penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the law.

Article 42 If the illegal act of a lawyer or law firm constitutes a crime and shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law, the judicial administrative organ shall transfer the case to the judicial organ for handling, and shall not substitute administrative punishment for criminal punishment.

If a lawyer is subject to criminal punishment for illegal practice, which constitutes an intentional crime or for non-practice reasons, the judicial administrative organ shall revoke his lawyer's practice certificate; if he is subject to criminal punishment for a negligent crime, he shall stop performing his duties as a lawyer during the period of serving his sentence or executing probation, and may apply for resumption of practice after the expiration of his sentence.

Article 43 When a judicial administrative organ imposes an administrative penalty, it shall be subject to the examination and approval of the person in charge of the organ, and a written decision on administrative penalty shall be made in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Penalty Law.

If a heavier administrative penalty is imposed on a complicated or major violation of the law, the person in charge of the judicial administrative agency shall discuss and decide collectively; when the decision is discussed collectively, the lawyers association may be invited to send a member to attend.

Article 44 When imposing administrative penalties, judicial administrative organs may, according to needs, adopt appropriate methods to notify the relevant administrative penalty decisions in the lawyer profession or announce them to the public.

Article 45 A punished lawyer or law firm shall consciously, on time and comprehensively perform the decision on administrative penalty, and truthfully report the performance to the judicial administrative organ.

Judicial administrative organs shall supervise the implementation of administrative penalty decisions by lawyers and law firms, and promptly order corrections or take corresponding measures in accordance with the law when problems are found.

Article 46 If a lawyer or a law firm is subject to administrative punishment for illegal practice, and his illegal act causes damage to the party or a third party, he shall bear corresponding civil liability in accordance with the law.

If a law firm is liable for compensation due to a lawyer's illegal act, the law firm may, after compensation, recover from the lawyer who has committed intentional or gross negligence.

Article 47 A lawyer who has received a penalty of suspension of practice before the expiration of the period of suspension of practice shall not apply for changing the practice organization; a lawyer who has received a penalty of suspension of practice for more than six months shall not be a partner during the period of execution of the penalty and within three years of the expiration of the period.

If a law firm is subject to the penalty of suspension of business for rectification, it shall not decide on its own to dissolve, apply for a change of name, apply for division or merger, or apply for the establishment of a branch office; the person in charge, partners and the law firm are subject to the penalty of suspension of business for rectification Lawyers who are directly responsible shall not apply for the change of practice.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 48 Administrative penalties for the illegal acts of a branch office of a law firm and its lawyers shall be imposed by the judicial administrative organ of the place where the branch office is located in accordance with the provisions of the Lawyers Law and these Measures. The punishment decision shall be copied to the law firm that has established the branch office and the judicial administrative organ of the city divided into districts or the district (county) of the municipality directly under the Central Government where it is located.

Article 49 The judicial administrative organs at the districted city level referred to in these Measures include the judicial administrative organs of regions, states and non-districted cities.

Article 50 These Measures shall come into force as of June 1, 2010. The Measures for the Punishment of Illegal Acts of Lawyers and Law Firms (Order No. 86 of the Ministry of Justice) issued by the Ministry of Justice on March 19, 2004 shall be repealed at the same time.