PUBLIC NOTARY SYSTEM INCREASES THE LEVEL OF LEGAL SECURITY

During his visit to Berlin, Minister of Justice and Public Administration Nikola Selaković met yesterday with the President of the Federal Chamber of German Civil Law Notaries Dr. Tim Spark and his associates.

Minister Selaković specified that he was quite pleased with the talks in the Federal Chamber of German Civil Law Notaries, and that these talks were very useful for the introduction of the public notary system in Serbia. He stated that the assistance the Federal Chamber of German Civil Law Notaries has so far provided for the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration with respect to the process of establishing a public notary service, its development and reinforcement, has been truly valuable, adding that such assistance will be much present in the future as well. 

“The initial launch of this system in Serbia was, and still is, dependent on the number of appointed public notaries. We need to reach the number of 100 notaries who have passed the exam. However, there are great difficulties associated with these exams. On one hand, the candidates have not adequately assessed the level of difficulty and the importance of the exam, and on the other hand, the examiners have tried to be as responsible and as strict as they could in doing their job”, said Selaković, adding that the application of the Law on Public Notaries is to be postponed because we have still not reached the number of sixty notaries.

“It is necessary that the citizens know that the establishment of the public notary service in Serbia is something that introduces a significantly higher level of legal security. When a citizen wishes to buy a house or a flat, he/she will no longer have to worry about the risk of whether he/she will become the real owner of such a house, or whether all the documents are legally sound. This is the concern of the notary”, the Minister explained. He stressed that a notary is a civil servant, vested with the authority by the state, someone who does not act in the interest of one party only, but in the interest of all parties. They must inform a citizen on all matters concerning a real estate purchase; they do not only consider the form, but also the contents of an agreement.

Furthermore, the Minister said that all this can also be transposed to the legal entities segment, “Notaries are very important in achieving legal, but also economic security. The public notary system introduces much more certainty in business operations, and in investment as well”, specified Selaković, adding that the notary service can also be called “a quick response office”.

“At this point, the competences the notaries would have in any of the segments referred to, have not been defined by the law comprehensively enough or well enough. Although we have received a lot of praise for many parts of our law by our colleagues from the German Chamber of Notaries, we have all agreed that it is necessary to strengthen and increase the competences of public notaries. I hope we will present such a law to the members of the National Assembly even before March”, Selaković concluded.