In late December 2021, China’s Ministry of Justice released the “Plan for Development of the National Public Legal Service System (2021-2025)” (hereinafter “the Plan”, 全國公共法律服務(wù)體系建設(shè)規(guī)劃(2021-2025)).
The Plan summarizes the progress of China’s public legal service in 2016-2020, such as:
- By the end of 2021, the number of legal service agencies increased to 765,000, including law firms, public notary offices, forensic examination agencies, arbitration institutions, people’s mediation committees, grassroots legal services, with a total of 3.885 million legal professionals;
- More than 500,000 people have been qualified for the legal profession; and,
- The annual caseload of lawyers and notary offices exceeded 11 million cases.
The Plan also points out the objectives in 2021-2025, including:
- By 2025, the number of practicing lawyers countrywide will reach 750,000;
- By 2025, the number of notaries will reach 20,000;
- China will be built into a new destination for international commercial arbitration; and,
- Domestic law firms are encouraged to set up branches abroad.
Cover Photo by Xin Bai on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
