The notary is a legal professional vested with a mission of public authority who prepares contracts in authentic form on behalf of his clients. He exercises his functions within a liberal framework.
The notary, a public officer
The notary is a public officer who intervenes in all areas of law: family, real estate, wealth, business, rural, local authorities...
Acting on behalf of the State, appointed by the Minister of Justice, he confers on the deeds he drafts a guarantee of seriousness and authenticity. This means he has true prerogatives of public power that he receives from the State.
Under Article 1 of the ordinance of 2 November 1945 relating to the status of notaries: 'Notaries are the public officers established to receive all acts and contracts to which the parties must or wish to give the character of authenticity inherent in acts of public authority'.
The notary, a professional in authentication of deeds
He has the power to authenticate deeds by affixing his seal and his own signature. He thus officially records the will expressed by the persons who sign them and personally commits himself on the content and date of the deed. This deed then imposes itself with the same force as a final judgment. In this respect, the notary is the magistrate of amicable matters, actor of a consensual justice.
By affixing seal and signature, the notary confers on the contract the full force of a definitive court ruling, thus preventing disputes through balanced and informed agreement.
The notary, a liberal professional
Although vested with public authority, the notary exercises his functions within a liberal framework and thus guarantees a modern form of public service at no cost to the State, since he assumes economic responsibility for his office. He is a liberal professional remunerated by his clients (and not by taxpayers) according to a tariff fixed by the State for the services he provides.
See the page dedicated to the notary's fee scale.
The notary, a professional present throughout the territory
Established throughout the territory under a distribution fixed by the Minister of Justice according to population needs, it guarantees a local public legal service. Notarial offices are not subject to any particular 'numerus clausus' (which would amount to limiting the number of notaries), but to a regulated establishment of offices throughout the territory to meet population needs.
The establishment of offices in the territory is subject to permanent adaptation under the control of the chancellery. It obeys three principles:
- — maintaining a local public legal service,
- — taking into account geographical and demographic developments,
- — ensuring the economic conditions of exercise of the profession to guarantee a quality service.
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