A Career as a Notary — Exam, Appointment, Dismissal

The status of a notary and professional independence

A notary is free in their professional activity and, through notarial and other related actions, exercises state authority on the basis of this law and other legal acts. When performing notarial acts the notary is independent and impartial; the activity is subject to the procedure and limits established by Georgian legislation and is not entrepreneurship or a source of profit. The remuneration paid to a notary for official activity belongs to the notary, and the notary is the employer of the staff of their notarial bureau. A notary is liable for damage caused by official activity — the state bears no liability for damage caused by a notary. The disciplinary liability of a notary is determined by provisions that the Minister of Justice approves upon the proposal of the Notaries Chamber of Georgia. A notary is also obliged to fulfil the duties established by the Georgian law on facilitating the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and by the relevant normative acts. It is also important that a notary is not a public servant.

Conditions for taking office as a notary

The office of notary may be taken by a capable citizen of Georgia who has a higher legal education, has passed the notaries qualification examination and satisfies one of the following conditions:

• has completed an internship under a program determined by the Notaries Chamber of Georgia;
• has at least 1 year of work experience as a notary;
• has at least 5 years of work experience as a notary's assistant;
• has at least 5 years of work experience in the specialty in public service, including public-law legal entities — except activity in cultural, educational, scientific, research, sports and religious entities, membership-based entities, and the category of public-law legal entities defined by legislation.

The qualification examination, competition and appointment

The notaries qualification examination (testing) comprises two stages — a professional part and general skills (verbal and mathematical parts). A person is released from the obligation to take the professional part if they have passed the judicial qualification examination in general law or in civil and administrative law, or have held the office of judge, and not more than 2 years have passed since passing that examination or since dismissal from the judicial office before taking the notaries qualification examination, or if they currently hold judicial office.

A notary is appointed to office by the Minister of Justice, who, upon appointment, indicates as the location of the notarial bureau a settlement designated by law. The office may be taken by any natural person who satisfies the established requirements and passes a competition; the procedure and conditions for holding the competition are approved by the Minister of Justice. A candidate submits an application to the Ministry of Justice, accompanied by documents confirming the circumstances of the conditions and by a document signed by the applicant confirming the absence of grounds for refusal of appointment.

Grounds for refusal of appointment

A person will not be appointed as a notary if they do not satisfy the established requirements or fail the competition. In addition, the grounds for refusal are:

• the person has been convicted of an intentional crime, or criminal prosecution for an intentional crime is being conducted against them;
• the person has been convicted of a crime directly related to notarial activity, regardless of the expungement or annulment of the conviction;
• the criminal case on an intentional crime has been terminated due to the lapse of time or amnesty;
• the person was dismissed from public service and/or their membership of the Georgian Bar Association was terminated for a disciplinary offense, a gross or repeated violation of law, use of official position to the detriment of justice and service interests, or a corrupt violation of law;
• the person was dismissed from the office of notary for committing a disciplinary offense;
• the person does not satisfy the requirements of incompatibility with the office;
• the person was deprived of the right to notarial activity by a court conviction that has entered into legal force;
• notary positions are filled for the given year in accordance with the maximum number of notary positions determined by the Minister of Justice;
• the person refuses to carry out notarial activity in the settlement designated by law.