National Assembly deputies from Nghe An province discuss amendments to the Notary Law.
On the afternoon of June 17th, continuing the program of the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly, the delegation of National Assembly deputies from Nghe An province discussed in Group 3, together with the delegations of National Assembly deputies from Bac Kan and Quang Ngai provinces, the draft Law on Notarization (amended), the draft Law on Value Added Tax (amended), and the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on reducing value added tax.
Delegates from Nghe An province focused their discussion on the draft Law on Notarization (amended), with delegates unanimously agreeing on the necessity of enacting the amended law to meet the current socio-economic development needs.
Concerns about regulations regarding notarizing translations.
One of the issues of concern to the delegates was the notarization of translations. Agreeing with the draft Law stipulating that notaries be allowed to certify the signatures of translators in accordance with the law on certification, National Assembly delegate Tran Nhat Minh stated that this regulation would address the shortcomings and obstacles of the current Notarization Law, which allows notaries to notarize translations.
"Because notaries cannot be fluent in multiple foreign languages at once, or even minority languages, in order to practice their profession," Representative Tran Nhat Minh explained.
To further support his point, Representative Minh argued that if notaries were allowed to notarize translations and utilize a team of freelance translators, then responsibility would have to be shared between the translator and the notary. This would be inconsistent with the scope of the Notarial Law and the individual responsibility in notarial activities.
Furthermore, according to the law, translators are responsible to the requesting party under the translation contract and therefore fall outside the scope of the Notarial Law. Thus, the provision in the draft law stating that notaries only certify the translator's signature in accordance with the law on certification is appropriate.
Regarding this issue, Representative Hoang Minh Hieu shared Representative Tran Nhat Minh's concerns about the foreign language and minority language skills of notaries when notarizing translations. However, the representative argued that if notaries are not tasked with notarizing the content from the original document into a translation, but only with certifying the signature of the translation, it will create certain legal loopholes and disadvantage those involved in contracts and transactions in minority languages and foreign languages.
In particular, during the current integration process, the need to conduct transactions and contracts in languages other than Vietnamese is increasing, making it necessary to consider ways to overcome these legal gaps.
According to the representative from Nghe An province, the notarization of translations can be done effectively by notary offices if there is close cooperation between the notary office and the translator, ensuring trust between the parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, careful consideration should be given to regulations on the authentication of signatures on translations to avoid legal loopholes and create conditions for better functioning civil transactions.
Proposal to expand the scope of the draft Law to include the Law on Notarization and Authentication.
Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province, Thai Thi An Chung, suggested that the scope of the draft Law should be expanded to include a Law on Notarization and Authentication.
According to the delegates, there was previously a general regulation on notarization and authentication, but it was later separated into two different documents: the Law on Notarization and the Government Decree regulating authentication activities.
Currently, there is a common confusion between notarization and authentication. Representative Thai Thi An Chung cited the example that some notarization organizations still perform authentication; meanwhile, in localities without notarization organizations, the district and commune People's Committees authenticate legal documents and civil transactions. Based on this reality, the representative proposed expanding the scope of this Law to include both notarization and authentication activities.
Regarding the standards for appointing notaries, the Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation agreed with the draft Law's provisions on the age limit for appointment. However, the delegate noted that the draft only stipulates an appointment age of no more than 70 years old, but lacks any regulations concerning the age limit for practicing notaries. The transitional provision states that notaries aged 68 to 70 at the time this Law takes effect may practice notarization until they reach 72 years old, meaning the age limit for practicing in this case is until they reach 72 years old. Therefore, the delegate proposed further research and the addition of regulations clearly defining the age limit for practicing notaries.
Regarding the notary appointment process, Representative Thai Thi An Chung stated that the draft law's provision to eliminate four types of documents, including three issued by the Department of Justice, is reasonable and contributes to administrative procedure reform.
Furthermore, delegates also proposed researching solutions to increase the number of notaries and notary practice organizations in the future. To justify this, delegates cited data from the Report summarizing the implementation of the Notary Law, showing that in 7 years only 308 notaries and 147 notary practice organizations were added, failing to meet the demands of current socio-economic development.
Furthermore, the shortage of notary offices will cause an overload for People's Committees at all levels, as they will have to certify documents, contracts, and transactions.
We propose adding regulations on quality control of notarization services.
Representative Hoang Minh Hieu stated that, according to data from a survey report conducted by the Judicial Academy in collaboration with the School of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, a notary public working diligently and scientifically can only notarize 8 to 10 contracts or transactions per day. However, in Hanoi, some notaries notarize up to 700 transactions in a single day.
Based on those figures, delegate Hoang Minh Hieu raised concerns about the quality of current notarization activities. He also pointed out numerous violations in current notarization practices, particularly the notarization of fictitious car sales transactions or notarization without the presence of a notary public.
Therefore, the draft Law needs to include solutions to control the quality of notarization, such as requiring photographs of the transaction signing process for record keeping, similar to bailiffs, or limiting the maximum number of contracts and transactions that notaries can notarize within a given timeframe, as is the practice in some countries.
Consideration should be given to regulating the organizational model of notary offices.
Regarding regulations on the organizational model of notary offices, delegates Hoang Minh Hieu and Tran Nhat Minh agreed with the Legal Committee's verification report on the proposed regulation that private enterprises and partnerships be applied to notary offices established in remote areas and areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; for other areas, only the partnership type should be applied, instead of the general regulation only applying the partnership type as in the Draft.
Further explaining this proposal, the delegates argued that the prohibition of establishing notary offices as private enterprises is one of the reasons for the current difficulties in establishing notary offices in economically and socially disadvantaged areas, thus limiting people's access to notary services in these areas. Meanwhile, in reality, the number of notary offices is currently concentrated in central, economically developed areas.
Regarding the naming of notary offices, the representative from Nghe An province argued that the draft law's provision stating that names must not be identical to or cause confusion with the names of notary organizations operating nationwide is too broad. The representative suggested researching a regulation that limits the scope to provincial-level administrative units for easier management and implementation.