The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has publicized a new set of rules for judicial authentication, which will take effect on October 1.

The rules, passed by the MOJ on July 18, will take place of the existing rules released on Aug. 31, 2001, the MOJ said.

A judicial authenticator is a specialist called by the court to identify, make judgments, and offer expertise on the special issues involved in litigation. Judicial authentication refers to the activities of the judicial authenticators.

The formal version of the new rules has five chapters and 40 clauses in all, including general principles, authorized authentication process for legal documents issued by the authentication institutions, and supplementary provisions.

The MOJ said they improved upon the original rules and released the new ones in order to better adapt to social changes and ensure the high quality of judicial authentication.

According to the MOJ, the formal version was released after the draft version was publicized in 2005 to solicit opinions from central and local governments, judicial experts, and the public.

The new rules address problems with most public complaints for their lawsuits, such as repeated or delayed authentication.

For the first time, it is made clear that the judicial authentication institutions must reply about whether or not they can make authentication for their cases within seven working days.

Also for the first time, the rules clearly outline that state or commercial secrets, and individual privacy must not be violated during the judiciary authentication process.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)