Patent

An Introduction to PRC National Bar Exam 

In China, the lawyer’s system was restored in 1979. It was since June 2008 that the PRC Ministry of Justice decided to accept Taiwan citizens to sit for their once-a-year National Bar Exam.  

While both regions adopt civil law system, the entire statutory laws share very little in common. Tested subjects cover most essential laws that a country’s bar exam would cover, but what unique is that International Laws, Chinese legal history and political ideology also have their weight to the passing score. The two-day exam proceeded in simplified Chinese  characters (used in PRC), with an exception that allowed Taiwan exam takers to write in traditional characters (used in Taiwan). Among 530 exam takers from Taiwan, the passing rate is said to be around 10% in 2009. Our partner Ms. Crystal J. Chen (a lawyer also admitted to practice in New York) is one of the few who has succeeded in this exam.

At present, Taiwan residents who are qualified Chinese lawyers are eligible to form a partnership with domestic Chinese lawyers in the Chinese Mainland and practice with limited scope in the non-litigation affairs, after they have completed a year’s internship in a Chinese law firm and passed the assessment by the local lawyer’s association.