The notary institute was formed in different ways in Europe, and today does not have a clear agreed concept that could correspond to the legal systems of all civilized states. This institution also has characteristic features in Russia, most often performing the function of legalizing legal documents. In particular, specialists in this field work with wills, letters of attorney, certificates of real estate, etc. Moreover, the functions of a notary public are not limited only to the validation of legality. In some cases, organizations of this profile may also provide advocacy services.
The concept of notary
The notary institution in the general sense is intended to protect the legal interests of citizens through the execution of actions provided for by law. An important feature of this activity is that they are committed on behalf of the state. As for the definitions of this institution, they disagree even in the circles of specialists. This is due to the wide coverage of the legal areas in which notaries are used. The concept and functions of its performers affect both law enforcement and judicial, as well as fiscal jurisdictional aspects, which complicates the approaches to the formation of a single definition. Nevertheless, the most common can be attributed to the concept in accordance with which the notary is defined as a system of state structures and officials certifying certain facts and rights. The list of their tasks also includes the examination of documents and extracts, which gives the latter legal force.
On the other hand, there is also criticism of such a notion of the notary institution, which notes that state bodies, together with officials, cannot characterize a modern system of this type. Nowadays, the tasks and functions of a notary are rather performed by representatives of the state, or persons authorized by him, who testify and commit acts in the legal field.
The principles of the notary
The very nature of the activities of notaries provides for considerable individual responsibility - accordingly, much in the quality of work of the holders of this right is determined by personal qualities. To date, a list of principles has been formed that determine the true nature of the institution of notaries. In particular, such an activity should be characterized by a high legal qualification. A specialist of this profile should provide clients with legal services, explaining their rights and obligations, as well as warning about the consequences for the commission of certain actions.
Equally important are the principles of safety and predictability. The notary must ensure that the rights are formalized in the proper manner, while also guaranteeing the accuracy of operations and evidence. It is these principles and functions of the notary that make the relations of its representatives with clients predictable, and legal interests protected. Impartiality is also important, in accordance with which the independence of the activities of offices is ensured from various factors except the law.
Types of Notary Functions
The activities of notaries are multidirectional, however, we can distinguish the basic branching of its functions, which characterize the specificity and nature of the tasks. To begin with, one aspect should be noted that helps to understand the special place of this institution in the legal sphere. It is connected with the fact that the functions of a notary public come from two goals that the Russian legal system sets. This is a socio-legal protection of citizens and the fulfillment of a protective task. In accordance with these goals, all the functions of a notary public can be divided into two types - social and substantial.
Social functions include fiscal, preventive and preventive, as well as law enforcement. The fiscal function is that the notary, in accordance with the established procedure, must notify the tax authorities about the issuance of certificates of inheritance, conclusion of gift contracts, etc. indisputable agreement.
The legalization sociological function of a notary public, in turn, provides the necessary legal conditions for persons who have applied for a specific legal action. Now it is worthwhile to consider in more detail the functions of a substantive nature.
Notary security function
In the process of fulfilling their duties within the framework of the assigned powers, participants in notarial proceedings must also have appropriate protection of rights. It is expressed in assisting system participants in the performance of legal activities. It is important to note the importance of liability control, under which the notary works. The functions, organization and participants of the process are included in the supervision system, which also allows you to appeal any decision in court.
At the same time, it must be remembered that the actions of a notary are not of the nature of administrative coercion, although the performer of functions is an official. In connection with the latter aspect, court control is in place, which provides the ability to correct notarial errors. Along with judicial control, supervision of the performance of professional duties of representatives of the notaries is also noted. Participants in the system who work in government offices are monitored by the judiciary. On the other hand, the main functions of a notary public in the framework of private practice are controlled by special chambers, which, by the way, are often criticized due to the large number of shortcomings in the work of procedural mechanisms. For example, notarial chambers cannot be subject to state control.
Jurisdiction function of a notary
This function arises from the tasks of the notary public, which face him as a body of civil jurisdiction. This means that, unlike a court, a notary public not only deals with resolving conflicts that have taken shape, but also performs their primary regulation. But this does not prevent the specialists of this niche from engaging in all forms of jurisdictional activity. For example, a notary can perform tasks of law and operational-executive nature. Moreover, the jurisdictional functions of a notary public in the Russian Federation may well extend to the implementation of law enforcement activities related to the enforcement of civil rights.
The main difference between this type of activity is not so much permissive as warning. Those tasks that notary specialists solve at the basic level of their authority largely prevent controversial legal situations that could potentially take shape in legal conflicts.
Certification functions of a notary
In the Russian legal sphere, it is precisely the set of certification functions that can be considered basic, in terms of notarial activities. As already noted, representatives of this system are vested with powers that allow them to give documents legal weight on behalf of the state. It follows that any legally significant actions of the participants in the process are legal in nature, however, their interaction in the system of notarized certification gives them a different level.
Procedures of this kind, as well as the law enforcement function of a notary public, can apply to legal transactions and the examination of facts. That is, in this case the notary certifies legal actions, guided by control or human rights powers. It is noted that this function provides as its basis an accurate statement of acts and facts, while maintaining the probative value of these legal means.
State and private notarial activities
The current legislation stipulates that notarized acts are performed only by authorized specialists. However, notaries can belong both to the state system and to private practice, as a result of which a combination of two types of offices is observed. In both cases, the informative and sociological functions of the notaries are performed in accordance with general principles.
As practice shows, the competence, level of preparation and good faith of notaries who work in government agencies and are engaged in customer service on a private basis are comparable in most cases. Moreover, representatives of both areas of work are guided by uniform regulatory acts, rules, and also have powers similar in legal force.
True, the formation of public and private notary offices is somewhat different . So, state organizations are opened and abolished by decision of the local administration at the level of regional and district departments. As for private offices, they are created directly at the initiative of a notary, subject to its approval. But after that, a representative of a notary public is not recognized as a legal entity. This is important for understanding property liability, which remains the same as in the case of individuals. That is, if the functions of a notary were performed incorrectly from the point of view of jurisprudence and as a result caused damage to property, then compensation can be provided precisely at the expense of personal property.
Legal regulation of notaries
The legislation of the Russian Federation regarding notaries has developed a set of legal acts designed for different areas of activity. Moreover, all the basic legal principles of notaries come from the Constitution. For example, the main act stipulates that private, state and municipal bodies have equal powers and are also accountable to the law.
If we analyze the Constitution as a source from which the developers of the main standards based on the regulation of the legal status of notaries based themselves, then several directions can be distinguished. First of all, these are general standards that govern the sequence of activities of notaries. You can also distinguish a group of special norms that purposefully formulate specific principles on which advocacy and notaries work. The functions are subordinated to the need to protect the principles of law, and not the motives of political and other expediency. This is especially true in the context of the struggle for the formation of new legislation on the notary institution, when there is a clash of positions regarding the further development of the legal system.
In particular, many experts advocate that Russia should follow the classical Latin form of notaries, while others advocate the complete nationalization of the institute, as was the case in the Soviet system of law.
Functions of the Federal Notary Chamber
Like ordinary private and state notarial chambers, the federal body of the system refers to non-profit organizations. In essence, this is an association of professionals from different regions of the country, which is based on their mandatory membership. At the same time, the federal chamber of notaries is a legal entity that carries out its work on the principle of self-government. The functions of this structure are based on the principles of the legislation of the Russian Federation and its own charter, which is adopted by representatives of notarial chambers and approved in the procedural order by which the charters of public associations are registered. There is also a difference in the tasks that ordinary offices and federal notaries perform.
Functions, powers and goals largely coincide with entry-level structures, but there are also fundamental differences. They are clearly manifested in the following duties of the body:
- Implementation of coordination activities of the initial state and private notarial chambers.
- Ensuring the protection of professional and social rights of notaries who engage in private practice.
- Representation of interests of notarial chambers in government bodies, as well as in organizations, enterprises and institutions.
- Providing advanced training for notaries, as well as their assistants and trainees.
- Participation in examinations of bills of the Russian Federation regarding issues related to activities in the notarial field.
- Representation of interests of notarial chambers in organizations at the international level.
- Organization of insurance of notaries.
Conclusion
The notary institution covers a wide field of legal activity, while retaining the special features of the legal structure. In a way, such offices serve as a link between different entities of the legal sphere, optimizing conflict resolution processes and allowing more effectively protect the interests of citizens. At the same time, the functions of the Russian notary public are limited by regulatory acts, which, in turn, come from the Constitution.
In addition, the activities of notaries in the broad sense are governed by the principles of legal reliability, security, impartiality and legal ethics. There are also signs of the demarcation of the institute in two areas, which are private and public offices. Despite the similarities, there are significant differences in approaches to organizing two types of offices. Thus, private notaries provide their activities on the basis of their personal financial capabilities, which saves the state from the need for financial security, in essence, one of its main tasks - guaranteeing the legal security of citizens.