Notaries of Serbia achieved remarkable results during 2019, as evidenced by the fact that during that period they issued more than 250,000 documents, in the form of records and solemnization, which implies the drawing up, verification and confirmation of real estate contracts, lifelong support and other contracts in other property relationships.
The 250,000 cases registered in the General Business Register of 197 Serbian notaries are significant not only as statistics but also as an indicator of the extent to which notaries of Serbia have contributed to the increase of legal certainty in real estate transactions and other affairs, said the President of the Serbian Chamber of Notaries Srbislav Cvejic, presenting some of the most important results of notaries in 2019.
Cvejić also said that due to the work of notaries, fraudulent real estate sales were avoided and that the number of court proceedings regarding contractual disputes was significantly reduced.
The SCN President emphasized the great support and assistance provided by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia from the outset, which continues to work on improving the technical capacity of the notary system, as well as on strengthening the position and expanding the competences and network of notaries.
Cvejic recalled that Serbia’s notaries celebrated 5 years since the introduction of notaries in the legal system in 2019, and it is clear that in that short time they were able to fulfill the most important functions – to protect the rights of parties, to speed up and control legal transactions and unburden the judiciary system. In five years, Serbia’s notaries have done more than eight million legal transactions under their jurisdiction, most of them certifications – about 7 million.
The great success of Serbian Chamber of Notaries in Serbia is that in 2019 they were able to complete as many as 367,121 certifications of documents, thus relieving the state institutions, especially during period of high school and college enrollment. In 2019, in June and July, more than 122,000 free copies of documents were notarized across Serbia, while some 245,000 documents were completed in the remaining 10 months.
In addition to the documents for the first enrollment in high schools and colleges, notaries notarized documents for the purposes of the competition for admission to dorms and student standards institutions, as well as for the competition for the use of student scholarships and loans. In addition to certification of these documents, certifications for enrollment in pre-school institutions and primary schools are also performed free of charge, as well as certification of signatures and transcripts or photocopies of documents used for social security, social protection, veterans-disabled protection and protection of civilian war invalids.
Notaries publicly certify, free of charge, documents for providing financial support for a family with children, as well as the documentation for victims of domestic violence. In addition, it is free of charge to certify the documents of unemployed persons necessary for the establishment of an employment relationship, or other rights conferred on that basis.
According to the President of the SCN, the results achieved in the last five years prove the extent to which both the public notary system in Serbia and the work of the Chamber of Notaries were developed in a short time. Cvejic emphasized the efficient work of a large number of notary offices, which were able to speed up the implementation of inheritance procedures, for which they are entrusted by the courts. “Inheritance procedures for public notaries are now effectively conducted, ending in a very short time,” Cvejic said.
The goal of the Serbian Chamber of Notaries is to further work on the advancement of the profession, and to fill more vacancies for notaries, which should be 370, for the territory of the entire Republic of Serbia. “Expanding the network of notaries is one of our priorities. We must work to ensure that public notaries are equally accessible to all citizens, “Cvejic said.
According to the president of the SCN, the Chamber has faced many challenges in the past years, the biggest one that citizens accept them as professionals, lawyers who improve legal certainty with their work. “We believe that we have made great strides in this direction so far, and we can promise that we will continue to work hard in the future and that we will strengthen our network and capacities,” Cvejic added.
The SCN also continuously provides training for notaries and notary assistants and associates, and constantly works to harmonize notary public practice. “It is extremely important for the Chamber to control the work of all notaries. We demand strict compliance with all laws and regulations by our members and sanction any violation of regulations within our ranks, “said Cvejic.