Both university graduates and many successful specialists are interested in what a notary does: what kind of legal actions he can perform and what powers he is endowed with. We will try to answer these questions in a simple, “non-clerical” language.
Main tasks
What does a notary do? It is known that the work of this representative of the law is associated with the commission of legal actions called notarial. These include tasks related to ensuring the protection of the interests of citizens and organizations. The operations that a notary can and must perform are prescribed in the legal act “Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries”. The document is quite long, but easy to read. It indicates the main activities of public and private notaries:
- Certifies the transaction.
- It certifies the authenticity of documents and their copies.
- Checks and confirms the validity of signatures and seals.
- Makes legitimate powers of attorney for transactions on behalf of third parties.
- Confirms the correct translation of documents from one language to another.
- Fixes copyright to works of art.
- It accepts documents, securities, money for custody.
- It is certified by the fact that a citizen of the Russian Federation is alive or in a certain place.
- Issues certificates of ownership of shares in common property.
- Fixes the time of the provision of papers.
- Verifies the identity of the photograph.
- Checks and confirms the equivalence of documents on paper and on electronic media.
- Issues certificates of inheritance rights.
- Submits documents for state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
- Imposes and removes the prohibition on alienation of property.
- Keeps a register of liens of movable property, issues certificates on the presence or absence of a specific car or equipment in it.
- Performs other actions aimed at protecting the law.
A person who takes office as a notary receives very broad powers. Most business operations in the country are complete without his participation. Taking into account what the notary does, it would probably not be an exaggeration to say that he is not just an expert, but even a wizard in some ways.
State and private law representatives
Contrary to popular belief, a notary office is not always a government agency. More than 90% of these institutions in Russia are private, organizationally similar to individual entrepreneurs. It is important to note, however, that the goal and mission of a notary cannot in any way be exclusive profit-making. In addition, the representative of the law is prohibited from doing business. What is common between public and private notaries? Both those and others are included in a single register and have the authority to perform notarial acts.
Private representatives of the law can be assessed as more reliable, since they bear full property responsibility for possible errors and violations. If financial losses occur due to the notary’s fault, it is possible, among other things, to foreclose his property. Although situations in which you really have to sue are rare.
The powers of a notary public practitioner usually do not include the right to deal with matters related to inheritance.He cannot verify the authenticity of wills, keep them at home, or search for beneficiaries. Notaries engaged inheritance affairs carry a higher degree of responsibility. The life of people depends on how well they know how to keep secrets. However, if there is no state notary public in the village, the authority for inheritance matters may be transferred to the private practitioner.
Work organization
Serving citizens and legal entities occurs in the office of the representative of the law. Less often, he leaves at the client's address. A private notary may have bank accounts and foreign currency accounts, manage the income received, and speak in court on his own behalf. This allows him to organize work to protect the rights of citizens in the most optimal way.
A notary public practice practitioner (RF) has a personal seal with the state emblem, name, position, address of the office. He uses nameplates for documents. In 2011, notaries also received electronic signatures with a high degree of protection. They are necessary for working with paperless storage media.
Scope of opportunity
The rights of a private notary engaged in private practice also lie in the fact that he can hire qualified specialists to help himself. At the same time, it is imperative to conclude labor agreements rather than civil contracts. Subordinates can be assigned the following tasks:
- preparation of documents;
- collection of information;
- entering information into registers;
- archive formation;
- transfer of packages of documents as part of registration of rights;
- other auxiliary operations.
A private notary has the right to hire an assistant who performs the same functions as his supervisor. The right hand is able to completely replace the boss during the absence, so that the work is never interrupted. A notary practicing private practice is obliged, like the state representative of the law, to enter information into a single automated system. This is a software resource that is impossible to do without. The unified system records information on all notarial acts committed in the country. Based on the data available in the program, the representative of the law determines whether he has the authority to perform those operations, the steps that a visitor expects from him.
Limitations and Prohibitions
For many who want to know what a notary does, the work of a representative of the law seems simple and dustless. In many ways, it resembles a secretary. It would seem that it could be easier than, for example, making a copy of a document and assuring it? The very name of the profession came to us from Latin - notarius. In translation, it means only "clerk." However, high status and privileges are given to representatives of the law for a reason. The activities of a notary public are associated with great responsibility and risks. Therefore, there are a lot of restrictions on the so-called clerks:
- A notary does not have the right to engage in matters not related to his district and competence.
- It is also impossible to refuse to take the actions stipulated by law in the interests of the person who has applied in “their territory”.
- Serious liability is provided for voluntary or involuntary disclosure of entrusted secrets. The notary can provide certificates of completed actions only to those persons on whose initiative and commission they were made. Information about the will is allowed to be announced to a limited circle of persons only after the death of the will-holder. The exception is the provision of information at the request of the court, prosecutor's office, investigative authorities, in accordance with the law.
- As mentioned earlier, a notary is not entitled to engage in entrepreneurial activity.He can not provide intermediary services in transactions, work part-time in other positions, perform any paid work, except as a teacher or researcher.
Who is eligible to be a notary?
The carrier of this honorable profession may become a man or woman who are citizens of the Russian Federation. You can take office as a notary no earlier than upon reaching 25 years of age and no later than 75th birthday. Cannot claim the right to be authorized representatives of the law:
- Disabled persons.
- Citizens of other states.
- Men and women sentenced to punishment.
- Persons registered with psychiatric or narcological dispensaries.
- Applicants submitting forged documents.
- Persons who in the past were exempted from the activities of a notary by a court decision.
How to become a legitimate "clerk"?
A notary is a general lawyer. He must be an expert in almost every branch of Russian and international law. Therefore, the procedure for taking office includes several difficult stages. An additional difficulty in building a career is the fact that in each district there can be only a limited number of notaries: which one - the federal decide justice authorities. Let's talk about the actions that need to be taken to become an honorary representative of the law.
Firstly, accreditation in a university of legal profile should be passed. This is necessary to officially confirm that your level of knowledge meets the standards. A university graduate who wishes to accredit with him is required to pass a series of tests. If the result is positive, the commission within one month issues an official opinion on the compliance of the specialist’s knowledge and skills with the standards of the notary profession. The document remains valid for 5 years. After this period, it must be extended, that is, undergo accreditation again.
Secondly, you must complete an internship of at least one year in a notary's office, existing for at least 3 years. The number of places for trainees is limited, so a competition is held for those who wish to take them. Candidates pass the exam. According to its results, the notarial chamber selects the best specialists for the positions of interns. The exam is announced in advance: for 2 months they place ads in the official media. You can find complete information about the timing and procedure for the entrance test on the official website of the notarial chamber. The intern's work is paid, but not too generously. These amounts are usually not enough for a living. Therefore, the trainee has the right to work in the office only part of the day, combining two types of professional activity. If you, as an intern, decide to take a vacation, remember that the break time will not be taken into account in the total duration of the practice.
Thirdly, it is required to pass a qualification exam for the right to be a notary. Its organization is engaged in a notarial chamber. A specially appointed commission decides who should be admitted to the exam. Testing of knowledge is carried out remotely using computer systems. For this purpose, workstations are being equipped. In case of successful completion of the test tasks, the candidate is included in the register of notaries of the Russian Federation within 10 days.
Fourthly, a license for notarial activities should be obtained. For this, it is necessary to pay a state fee in the amount of 5 minimum wages. It is also necessary to collect and transfer to the notary chamber a package of documents:
- diploma of a law school;
- certificate of accreditation;
- official internship paper;
- confirmation of passing the exam.
On the basis of the application with the attached documents, the candidate for the position of notary is issued a license.
Fifth, you need to take the solemn oath that you will perform your duties honestly, based on the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The notary publicly swears that he will abide by the law, make decisions in a balanced and impartial manner, without giving personal preferences to any of the parties. For the representative of the law, all citizens of the Russian Federation are equal. The notary pledges not to divulge the personal and commercial secrets of persons who will be entrusted to him in connection with the performance of professional duties. He vows to be guided in his activities by the principles of humanity, honesty, respect for man and his inalienable rights.
And sixth, it is important to start the work of a notary, his deputy or assistant on time. You must have time to take office within 3 years after the exam. Otherwise, you will be allowed to work only after passing the knowledge test again.
Why can they be dismissed?
Both the state representative of the law and the notary engaged in private practice can lose their position, status and privileges overnight if they perform their duties inappropriately. They will be removed from office:
- for committing both intentional and involuntary crime;
- when incapacitation;
- with repeated violations and misconduct;
- upon reaching the age of 75.
In other words, the notary does not have the right to deal with the affairs of clients if he is not competent enough, is dishonest, and careless. He is also obliged to resign if, due to age or health, he is not able to work according to the high standards established by the notary of the Russian Federation.
Professional responsibility
Like government representatives of the law, notaries engaged in private practice perform actions that may entail financial losses of the person who applied to the office. Damage to a citizen or organization may be caused, in particular, due to the disclosure of information or the unlawful refusal to perform notarial acts. Therefore, both state representatives of the law and notaries engaged in private practice are liable to clients. Both those and others will be obliged to indemnify the injured party.
Liability insurance
A notary public practitioner is required to draw up a civil liability insurance contract before starting the activity. What is it for? In order that in case of property damage to a legal or natural person, the insurance company compensates for the damage. A notary does not have the right to refuse to purchase a policy. The contract is concluded for a period of at least one year and is subsequently extended. The minimum insurance amount under the contract for a notary working in the city is 2 million rubles, for a representative of the law in a rural type settlement - 1.5.
If the notarial acts performed by a notary engaged in private practice include the certification of real estate pledge agreements, he is obliged to insure his liability in the amount of at least 5 million rubles. The obligations of the representative of the law are covered not only by the policy, but also by the compensation fund of the notarial chamber, which is formed by regular membership fees. Now you know what a notary in the Russian Federation does and how this process happens.
