Serhiy Mishchenko, Committee Chairman, noted that six Bills seeking to amend the Law ‘On Notariate´ are currently under elaboration.
Three of them (Reg. Nos 1286, 1286-1, 1286-2) propose a revised version of the current Law ‘On Notariate´. These versions aim to create unified legal conditions for Notarial activities in Ukraine, and define the status of a Notary as a Public Official, through revoking the division into Private Notariate and Public Notariate.
Another Bill (Reg.No.1177) amends Clause 55 of the current Law, to legally adjust the possibility of concluding and notarising agreements on the alienation or mortgage of property, based solely on its location.
The rest of the Bills (Reg. No. 1425, 1425-1), envisage ‘significant amendments to the current Law, aiming to improve access by the Public to Notary services, and prevent falsification of Notary documents´. Their Sponsors believe that this will approximate the Ukrainian Notariate system to that in used in Europe, improve the protection of the civil legal interests of the Public, and reduce corruption in the organisational system of the Notariate in Ukraine.
‘The majority of the Bills now processed by the Committee seek to create a legal and organisational background for Ukraine´s joining of The International Notariate Union´, said S. Mishchenko, Committee Chairman.
He also noted that implementation of the Law on Notariate, adopted in 1993, caused a number of social, economic and legal problems in the State regulation of activities of Notaries Private, leading to considerable difficulties in the operation of Public Notaries´ offices, and saw a dramatic increase in complaints from the Public, creation of opportunities for corruption and other negative phenomena.
Several issues remain unregulated, among them the Notaries´ Self-government, the principles of organisation and carrying out of Notaries´ activities, and their self-financing, the setting up of Notary circuits, specifying a limit on the number of Notaries, etc.
The Chairman of the Committee considers that also requiring legal regulation is the notion and subject of Notarial confidentiality, guarantees of Notarial activities , the types of State control over the legality of Notarial activities, and the grounds for, and procedure of, the termination/halting of Notarial activities, etc.
For the purpose of comprehensive and impartial deliberations on the said Bills, and bearing in mind the numerous appeals and proposals from the public, notaries and civic associations, the Committee has planned Legislative Hearings on these pressing issues of the Notariate, in March 2008.