Chương I Luật Công chứng 2006: Những quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Governing scope

This Law regulates the scope of notarization, notaries, notary practising organizations, notarization formalities and State administration of notarization.

Article 2.  Notarization

Notarization means written certification by a notary of the accuracy and legality of a written contract or other transaction (hereinafter referred to as contract or transaction) which the law stipulates must be notarized or which an organization or individual voluntarily requests be notarized.

Article 3. Principles of notary practice:

1. Compliance with the Constitution and laws.

2. Objectivity and honesty.

3. Legal liability for notarized documents.

4. Compliance with rules on notary practice ethics.

Article 4. Notarized documents

1. A written contract or transaction which has been notarized pursuant to the provisions of this Law shall be called a notarized document.

2. A notarized document shall contain the following:

(a) The contract or transaction;

(b) Testimony of a notary.

3. A notarized document shall take effect from the date it is signed by a notary and sealed by a notary practising organization.

Article 5. Testimony of a notary

The testimony of a notary must specify the time and place of notarization, the full name of the notary, and the name of the notary practising organization; it must certify that the parties to the contract or transaction are participating voluntarily and that they have capacity for civil acts, and that the purpose and contents of the contract or transaction do not breach the law and are not contrary to social morals; that the subject matter of the contract or transaction truly exists, and that the signatures on the contract or transaction are truly the signatures of the parties to the contract or transaction. The testimony must be signed by the notary and sealed by the notary practising organization.

Article 6. Legal validity of notarized documents

1. A notarized document shall be enforceable against all related parties. If the obligor fails to discharge its obligations, the other party shall have the right to petition a Court to resolve the matter in accordance with law, except where otherwise agreed by the parties to the contract or transaction.

2. A notarized document shall be valid as evidence; and the circumstances and facts in a notarized document shall not be required to be proved, except where the Court declares [the notarized document] to be null and void.

Article 7. Notaries

Notary means a person satisfying the criteria stipulated in this Law who is appointed to practise as a notary.

Article 8. Applicants requesting notarization

1. An applicant requesting notarization means a Vietnamese or foreign individual or organization.

A request for notarization by an organization must be made by the legal representative or authorized representative of such organization.

2. An applicant requesting notarization must have capacity for civil acts, and must present all the relevant documents necessary for the notarization and shall be liable for the accuracy and legality of such documents.

Article 9. Witnesses

1. There must be a witness when the law stipulates that notarization must be witnessed; or where there is no such stipulation by law but the applicant requesting notarization can neither read nor hear, or neither sign nor make a fingerprint.

The witness shall be appointed by the applicant requesting notarization, or if the applicant cannot do so then the witness shall be appointed by the notary.

2. A witness must satisfy the following conditions:

(a) Be aged 18 years or more and have full capacity for civil acts;

(b) Not have any asset related rights, interests or obligations regarding the notarization.

Article 10. Spoken and written language to be used in notarization

The spoken and written language to be used in notarization shall be Vietnamese.

Article 11. Responsibilities for State administration of notarization

1. The Government shall conduct uniform State administration of notarization.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall be responsible before the Government for the exercise of State administration of notarization and shall have the following duties and powers:

(a) To prepare policies for development of notarization and submit them to the Government;

(b) To promulgate legal instruments on notarization or to submit legal instruments to the competent State body for promulgation;

(c) To stipulate a framework for notary vocational training and to manage the organization of such training activities; to appoint and dismiss notaries; and [to stipulate] the form of notary cards;

(d) To guide professional notarization activities; to disseminate the law on notarization; to undertake checks and inspections, deal with breaches, and resolve complaints and denunciations about notarization;

(dd) To summarize notarization activities and provide reports thereon to the Government;

(e) To conduct and manage international co-operation in the notarization sector.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be responsible to co-ordinate with the Ministry of Justice in providing guidelines, and inspecting and examining notarization activities by overseas diplomatic representative bodies and consulates of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (hereinafter all referred to as Vietnam's representative offices overseas); and in organizing training courses on notarization skills for consulate and diplomatic officials of Vietnam's representative offices overseas.

4. Ministries and ministerial equivalent bodies shall, within the scope of their respective duties and powers, be responsible to co-ordinate with the Ministry of Justice in exercising State administration of notarization.

5. People's committees of provinces and cities under central authority (hereinafter referred to as provincial people's committees) shall exercise State administration of notarization in their localities and shall have the following duties and powers:

(a) To take measures to develop notary practices within their localities to meet the demand for notarization;

(b) To establish and to dissolve a Public Notary Office; to grant approval for establishment of private notary offices; to issue and revoke certificates of operational registration of private notary offices;

(c) To ensure that initial physical facilities and equipment are available for a Public Notary Office;

(d) To conduct checks and inspections; and to settle complaints and denunciations concerning notarization;

(dd) To summarize the status of and statistical data on notarization within their localities, and to report same to the Ministry of Justice.

Article 12. Conduct which is strictly prohibited

1. Notaries shall be strictly prohibited from acting as follows:

(a) Disclosing information or using information about the contract or transaction which such notary notarizes, except where the applicant for notarization consents in writing or except where otherwise stipulated by law;

(b) Causing difficulties for applicants for notarization;

(c) Receiving or demanding any monetary item or other benefit from an applicant for notarization other than the notarization fees, remuneration and other fees which have been fixed and agreed;

(d) Carrying out notarization in a case where the objectives and content of a contract or transaction breach the law or social morals; in a case where such notarization relates to the personal property and interests of the notary or a relative of the notary including a spouse, natural parent, parent-in-law, adoptive parent, natural child, adopted child, grandparent, sibling, sibling of spouse, sibling-in-law, natural grandchild or adopted grandchild.

2. Applicants for notarization shall be strictly prohibited from providing false information and documents.

3. Persons conducting notarization activities shall be strictly prohibited from acting dishonestly.

4. Bodies, organizations and individuals shall be strictly prohibited from taking any act to obstruct notarization activities.