Chương IV Thông tư 01/2021/TT-BTP: Tổ chức và hoạt động công chứng

Chapter IV

NOTARIAL ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION

Article 18. Termination of general partner status and admission of new general partners of the private notary office

1. A notary's general partner status in a private notary office shall terminate in the following cases:

a) According to personal wishes according to the Notarization Law;

b) Other cases as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises related to partnerships.

2. The notary shall terminate his or her status as a general partner according to Point a, Clause 1 of this Article when it is approved in writing by at least three quarters of the total number of general partners. The notary must notify in writing other general partners and the Department of Justice where the private notary office has registered its operation of the termination of the general partner status at least 6 months before the expected date of termination. Within 2 years from the date of termination of the general partner status, the person who has terminated the general partner status according to his/her personal wish must still be jointly and severally liable with all his/her assets for the debts of the private notary office that had been incurred before the date of termination of the general partner status.

If a notary terminates the status of a general partner under the provisions of point b of this clause, the termination shall comply with the provisions of Article 185 of the Law on Enterprises.

3. The admission of new general partners to the private notary office shall comply with the provisions of Article 27 of the Notarization Law and Article 186 of the Law on Enterprises.

Article 19. Application for modification to operation of private notary office

1. The private notary office that requests to modify its operation registration as prescribed in Article 24 of the Law on Notarization or the private notary office as acquirer or private notary office as transferee shall submit in person or by post 01 set of application to the Department of Justice where the private notary office registered its operation.

The application includes an application form for modification to operation registration of the private notary office (Form TP-CC-10), the original copy of the operation registration certificate of the private notary office and one or some of the following documents: depending on the type of modification:

a) In case the private notary office admits a new notary: The written consent of the general partner notaries in the case of the admission of a new notary or the employment contract in the case of the admission of the notary under employment contract regime attached to the application for practice registration and issuance of notary card;

b) In case the private notary office excludes a notary: The written consent of the general partner notaries and a notice of the termination of the general partner's status as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of this Circular or a document proving the notary's termination of the general partner's status in the case specified at Point b. Clause 1, Article 18 of this Circular or the decision on dismissal of the notary or the document on termination of the employment contract with the notary under the employment contract regime;

c) In case the private notary office changes its head: A document proving that the notary expected to be the head of the private notary office has performed notarial practice for 02 years or more, together with the written consent of the general partners on the change of the head of the office;

d) In case of change of head office address of the private notary office: a document proving the new head office;

dd) In case of changing the name of the private notary office: the written agreement of the general partners on the change of the name of the private notary office;

e) In case of merger of a private notary office: The documents specified in Clause 4, Article 14 of Decree No. 29/2015/ND-CP; in case of transfer of the private notary office: The documents specified in Clause 3, Article 15 of Decree No. 29/2015/ND-CP.

2. Within 07 working days from the date of receipt of a complete application specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the Department of Justice shall re-issue the operation registration certificate to the private notary office that changes its name or head office address, the head of office or records the modification in the operation registration certificate for the private notary office to change the list of notary partners or notaries working under the employment contract regime; in case of refusal, it must be notified in writing, clearly stating the reason.

The re-issued operation registration certificate retains the previously issued number.

Article 20. Termination of private notary office operation

1. The termination of operation of a private notary office shall comply with the provisions of Article 31 of the Notarization Law.

2. In case the private notary office terminates its operation by itself, within 07 working days from the date on which the private notary office completes the procedures for operation termination as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 31 of the Notarization Law, the Department of Justice shall revoke the operation registration certificate of the private notary office.

Article 21. Handing over notarization documents in case of appointing a notarial practice organization to receive documents

1. In case a public notary office is dissolved or a private notary office terminates its operation without reaching an agreement with another private notary office on the receipt of notarization documents, the Department of Justice shall appoint a public notary office or private notary office to receive the notarization documents before there is a decision to dissolve the public notary office or issue a decision to revoke the operation registration certificate of the private notary office.

2. Within 60 days from the date of issuance of the decision to dissolve the private notary office or the decision to revoke the operation registration certificate of the private notary office as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the Department of Justice shall hand over the notarization documents to the organization designated to receive notarization documents. The handover of documents requires participation of the Notary's Association in the local area where the Notary's Association is located and must be recorded in writing, signed and sealed by the Department of Justice and the involved parties; in case the transferor does not sign, it shall be clearly recorded in the minutes.

3. If an individual or organization that is obliged to hand over notarization documents fails to hand them over or is unable to hand them over for legitimate reasons, the Department of Justice shall coordinate with relevant local agencies in handing over the documents to the designated notarial practice organization. The handover of notarization documents must be made in writing as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 22. Interpreter collaborators of notarial practice organizations

1. Interpreter collaborators of notarial practice organizations must fully satisfy the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 61 of the Notarization Law.

In case the interpreter collaborator has registered a signature specimen at the notarial practice organization for which he/she works as a collaborator, he/she may sign the translation in advance; The notary must compare the actual signature of the interpreter collaborator with the signature specimen before bearing the notarial certificate and signing each page of the translation.

2. Rights and obligations of the notarial practice organization:

a) Sign a contract with an interpreter collaborator, clearly defining the collaborator's responsibilities for the content, translation quality, remuneration, rights and obligations of the parties;

b) Notify in writing to the Department of Justice where the notarial practice organization registers its operation the list of interpreter collaborators within 05 working days from the date of signing the contract with the collaborator;

c) Pay interpreter remuneration as agreed with the interpreter collaborators;

d) Publicly post the list of interpreter collaborators at its head office;

dd) Make restitution for any damage caused and claim reimbursement from interpreter collaborators according to Article 38 of the Notarization Law;

e) Other rights and obligations as agreed with the interpreter collaborators or as prescribed by law.

3. Rights and obligations of interpreter collaborators:

a) Receive interpreter remuneration as agreed with the notarial practice organization;

b) Take responsibility for the accuracy and properness of the content of the translation made by them;

c) Refund the restitution that the notarial practice organization has made for damage caused by the interpreter collaborator’s fault according to Article 38 of the Notarization Law;

d) Comply with the provisions of the law on translation and the working rules of the notarial practice organization;

dd) Other rights and obligations as agreed with the notarial practice organization or as prescribed by law.

Article 23. Notarization database

1. People's Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities (hereinafter referred to as People's Committee of province) are responsible for building notarial local database and promulgating regulations on extraction and use using the notarial database as prescribed in Article 62 of the Notarization Law.

2. The built notarial database must ensure safety, security, convenience in extraction and use, and be able to connect with other relevant database.

3. Funding for the building of the notarial database shall be allocated from the local budget, contributions from notarial practice organizations, notaries and other sources from private sector involvement.

4. Regulations on extraction and use of notarial database must clearly specify responsibilities of relevant individuals, agencies, and organizations in managing, providing, and updating information in the database, the extraction, and use of the database and the cost thereof.

Article 24. Notarial certificates of notaries

1. The notarial certificate of a notary is an integral part of the notarized document.

2. The samples of notarial certificates are issued together with this Circular, including:

a) The notarial certificate generally applicable to contracts (transactions); notarial certificate applicable to the authorization contract in case the mandator and the authorized party cannot go to the same notarial practice organization to sign the contract; notarial certificate applicable to will and amendments thereto; notarial certificate applicable to agreement on division of estate/claim of estate; notarial certificate applicable to waiver of estate;

b) The notarial certificate applicable to the translation.

3. Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 46 and Clause 3, Article 61 of the Law on Notarization, the samples of notarial certificates and notes on how to write notarial certificates issued together with this Circular, the notary shall draft appropriate notarial certificate in conformity with each specific contract or transaction.

Notaries may not include in their notarial certificates any content to evade or reduce his/her liability, or content that violates the law or is contrary to social ethics.

Article 25. Notarial journal and notarial reference number

1. Notarial journal is used to keep records of and manage notarial acts at a notarial practice organization. The notarial journal is made annually, the date of opening of the journal entry is January 1, and the closing date is December 31. The journal must be numbered and written consecutively in the order from 01 to the end of the journal. No line or page is left blank and the journal entries must bear fan stamp in accordance with the law.

At the end of the year, the notarial practice organization must close its journal and make statistics of the total number of notarial acts performed in the year; the head of the notarial practice organization shall certify, sign, clearly write his/her full name and stamp in the journal.

The notarial journal is made according to the form, including the notarial journal for contracts and transactions (Form TP-CC-27) and notarial journal for translations (Form TP-CC-28).

2. Notarial reference number is the ordinal number recorded in the notarial journal, enclosed with the journal volume, year of notarial act and the symbol of the type of notarial act (contract, transaction, translation). The ordinal numbers recorded in the notarial journal must be recorded continuously from the number 01 until the end of the year, the numbers must not be accompanied by letters; in case another journal is used while the year is not over yet, the next ordinal number of the previous book must be taken.

The reference number recorded in the notarized document is the same number recorded in the notarial journal.

3. In case a notarial practice organization sets up an electronic notarial journal, it must print and bind it into a physical journal, affix the fan stamp on the monthly basis as prescribed by law. Journal-making, journal-entry and journal -closing shall comply with the provisions of Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 26. Making, managing and using books in notarization activities

1. The notarial practice organization must make, store and archive the following types of books:

a) Notarial journal for contracts and transactions, notarial journal for translations according to Article 25 of this Circular;

b) Logbook of personnel (Form TP-CC-29).

The logbook of personnel must have the date of opening and closing and be affixed with a fan stamp as prescribed by law;

c) Records, archives, accounting and financial books and other types of books as prescribed by relevant laws.

2. The making, storage and archival of all kinds of books as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article must comply with the law on notarization, archiving, statistics, taxation, finance and other relevant legal provisions.

Article 27. Reports on notarial organization and operation

1. The People’s Committee of province shall report to the Ministry of Justice on notarial organization and operation in the province; the report's contents are included in the annual report on judicial performance results sent to the Ministry of Justice.

2. Report contents on notarial organization and operation in the province includes the following key issues:

a) The situation of notarial organization and operation in the province: Number of notaries and notarial practice organizations; the registration of practice, issuance of notary cards; the practice de-registration, revocation of notary's cards; operation results of notarial practice organizations (total number of notarial and authentication acts, amount of fees, notarial remuneration, authentication fees and other expenses);

b) The establishment, conversion and dissolution of the public notary office; permission for the establishment and relocation of the head office from a district to another district; consolidation, merger, transfer, termination of operation of the private notary office (if any);

c) Advantages, difficulties and obstacles in the process of notarial organization and operation and proposals and recommendations (if any);

d) Evaluation of the state management of notarial organization and operation in the province; proposals, recommendations and solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of state management.

Article 28. Examination of notarial organization and operation

1. The Department of Justice shall assist the People's Committee of the province in examining the notarial organization and operation in the province. The Department of Justice shall carry out unscheduled examination at the request of the People's Committee of the province, the Ministry of Justice or in case of detecting signs of law violation, and settlement of complaints and whistleblowing reports.

The Department of Judicial Assistance assists the Minister of Justice in examining notarial organization and operation nationwide. The Department of Judicial Assistance shall carry out unscheduled examination at the request of the Minister of Justice or in case of detecting signs of law violation, and settle complaints and whistleblowing reports.

Periodic examination must be planned; the examination time and checklist must be notified in writing to the examined entity at least 15 days before the date of inspection.

2. The examination focuses on the following primary matters:

a) For notarial practice organizations: The operation registration, practice registration and issuance of notary cards; the settlement of notarization requests; the making, management, use and storage of books and related documents, records and documents; comply with regulations on reporting, labor, tax, finance, accounting, statistics and the exercise of other rights and obligations of notarial practice organizations, notaries practicing in organizations according to regulations of the Law on Notarization, its guiding documents and relevant laws.

b) For notarial socio-professional organizations: Admission and withdrawal from the list of members; refresher courses; resolution of complaints, whistleblowing reports; discipline actions; the implementation of regulations of law on reporting, finance, accounting, statistics and the performance of other duties and powers of notarial socio-professional organizations in accordance with the Notarization Law, guiding documents, the Charter of the Association of Vietnamese Notaries and relevant laws.

c) For the Department of Justice: The formulation of the scheme on the establishment of the public notary office, the establishment of the private notary office; issuance, re-issuance and revocation of operation registration certificates of private notary offices; practice registration and issuance of notary cards; management of notarial practice probation; inspection, examination, periodical and ad-hoc reports; making, managing and using books; management and operation of the notarial database and performance of other duties and powers in accordance with the Notarization Law, its guiding documents and relevant laws.

3. The examination team has the following tasks and powers:

a) Strictly comply with the checklist and time limit stated in the examination decision;

b) Extension of examination where necessary (the maximum extension time is equal to the examination period announced previously);

c) Request the examined entity to provide information, documents related to the examination checklist;

d) Make examination records, prepare examination result reports, and take responsibility for the accuracy, truthfulness, and objectivity of such records and reports;

dd) Handle according to its competence in case violations of notarial organization and operation are detected;

e) Confidentiality of information related to the examination process as prescribed by law.

4. An examined entity has the following rights: Request the examination team members and related agencies and organizations to keep information confidential during the examination in accordance with law; receive examination records and request explanations of examination minutes' contents; reserve opinions in the examination report; refuse to provide information, documents, and records unrelated to the examination checklist, unless otherwise provided for by law; whistleblow illegal acts in the course of examination and have other rights as prescribed by law.

An examined entity has the following obligations: Abide by the issued examination decision; provide timely, complete and accurate information, documents, records and documents related to examination checklist at the request of the examination team and take legal responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of information, documents, records and documents provided; sign the examination report after the examination ends; comply with the decision of the examination team and perform other obligations as prescribed by law.

5. Procedures for examination are conducted as follows:

a) Announcing the examination checklist and program at the beginning of the examination of notarial organization and operation;

b) Compare, examine and evaluate the report's contents and presented books, documents in accordance with law;

c) Make an examination record on notarial organization and operation after the examination is over;

d) Handle according to their competence or request competent authorities to take actions against law violations in notarial organizations and operation (if any).

Article 29. Inspection of notarial organization and operation

1. The Department of Judicial Assistance, the Inspectorate of the Ministry shall assist the Minister of Justice in inspecting notarial organization and operation.

2. The Department of Justice shall assist the People's Committee of the province in inspecting the notarial organization and operation in the province.

3. The inspection of notarial organization and operation shall be carried out in accordance with the law on inspection, the law on notarization and other relevant laws.