The Bar supports the notaries in counteracting the corrupted notary reform

The Bar Council of Ukraine held an extraordinary meeting using electronic voting system, during which it approved an open statement regarding the situation in the notary public and the support of notaries of Ukraine.

«The Ukrainian National Bar Association, represented by the Bar Council of Ukraine, acting as the supreme body of bar self-government between the congresses of advocates of Ukraine, having considered the appeal of the Notary Chamber of Ukraine, expresses solidarity with the position of the professional organization of notaries of Ukraine regarding the inadmissibility of imposing unreasonable restrictions on the pursuit of professional activities of the notaries", - said in a statement of the BCU.

The Bar Council of Ukraine unconditionally adheres to the principles of independence of legal professions, which must be ensured by adhering to European and international standards and their adaptation to the national legislation. The BCU is concerned about the fact that the legislative regulation of notarial activities varies without public consultations with the notary self-governing organization and imposes a violation of professional rights.

Introduction by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine of the so-called "pilot project in the areas of state registration of property rights to real estate and their encumbrances, and state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and public associations", which is stipulated by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 860 dated October 24, 2018 and the corresponding order of the Ministry of Justice, may lead to a critical situation in the sphere of providing notarial services. The specified regulatory acts create serious corruption risks and discriminate against the right of notaries to carry out their professional activities. Contrary to the current profile law, there is envisaged the duty of a notary to further confirm its professional competence. Such artificial filters for admission to the profession may violate not only the rights of one of the legal professions, but the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities that appeal to the notary as a state registrar.

Granting the right to perform notarial acts and to carry out state registration by authorized persons is an obvious attempt to create a «quasi notary» in parallel to the professional notary body prescribed by the law "On the Notary". The BCU shares the assessments of the Chamber of Notaries on the presence of signs of corruption and raiding in this initiative.

The Bar Council of Ukraine calls on the state authorities to ensure the sustainable development of the Ukrainian notary on the basis of the system of the "Latin type" notary. The reform of the control system in the areas of state registration should take place in a transparent manner, with the mandatory introduction of specific criteria (differentiation of criteria) for the application of liability (sanctions) for violations in the field of state registration and the delineation of liability depending on the type of violation committed by a notary public or a state registrar. Such a process should include the full participation of the public, notaries, advocates in the handling of complaints in the field of state registration; the introduction of transparent mechanisms that will ensure the procedural rights of complainants in the process of handling complaints in the field of state registration (CMU Decrees No. 1128, 990).

The Bar Council of Ukraine stresses the inadmissibility of using any means of pressure on notaries on the part of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and prosecution of notaries for public statements  of their views and beliefs.

We would like to draw attention to the necessity of a compulsory involvement of the Chamber of Notaries of Ukraine in the development of any legislative amendments to the notarial activity, which meets the requirements of democratic governance and key international documents on the regulation of legal profession.

The whole Ukrainian legal community is ready to participate constructively in reforming the legislation in order to strengthen the principles of respect for the law, the rule of law and the elimination of corruption.

As you may know, on February 25, notaries from all over the country conduct a peaceful protest action "Notary against corruption schemes".