Functions of Notaries Public

The Lebanese law defined the notary public as being “a public officer who is associated with the Ministry of Justice and who receives remuneration for the services rendered from his clients, not from the Lebanese state.” The scope of his functions includes the following:

• Authentication of the transactions requested by clients.
• Managing and certifying the execution of the documents set forth in the Obligations and Contracts Act and more generically, any document not prohibited by the law or not falling within the jurisdiction of another public employee, as well as keeping the original copies of such documents and handing the clients identical copies thereof.
• Approving and archiving documents.
• Preparing protests and notifying the concerned person thereof .
• Marking attestations and instruments with the proper dates.
• Drafting and certifying wills.
• Delivering all notices and warnings
• Numbering the record books of traders and self-employed individuals.
• Notarizing the signature of the translator of attestations.
• Taking fingerprints, keeping them, and confirming the identity of their holders

Appointment of Notaries Public

Notaries public are appointed on the basis of a competition. Eligible candidates must fulfill the following conditions:

• Be holders of the Lebanese nationality for no less than ten years.
• Be between 25 and 48 years of age.
• Be holders of the Lebanese Law Degree.
• Enjoy all their rights and have no criminal record.
• Should the candidate pass the competition, he/she shall be appointed as an apprentice in a notary office, where he/she undergoes training for a 6-month period. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, the candidate becomes a full-fledged notary and begins his notarial duties after taking the oath before the Court of Appeals in Beirut. A notary public is referred to retirement at the age of 64. When on leave, he is substituted by a full-timer at the Ministry of Justice or a judicial assistant with a law degree or a paralegal, appointed by the Minister of Justice, to assume interim responsibilities. The substitute obtains 30% of revenues earned during the replacement period and the remaining goes to the original notary public.

Supervision on Notaries Public

The notary public undergoes financial and administrative inspection by one to three judges at most. The Minister of Justice designates the judges exercising oversight from among the judges affiliated with the ministry.

Punishment ranging from simple warning to complete suspension from work may be inflicted on notaries public who commit a breach of the law.

Revenues from Notarial Fees

Notaries public charge certain fees for the benefit of the state. Those fees are determined by the documents and instruments they authenticate. The revenues are delivered to the Ministry of Justice Fund or to the Central Treasury Fund in Beirut during specific time limits (3 times a week in Beirut, twice a week at the centers of Mohafazas, and once every two weeks at the centers of Qada’as or anytime the funds reach LBP 10 million.)

In case of default, a penalty of 1% is imposed for each day the returns are late.

According to the draft budgets in the past few years, the estimated notarial fees were as follows:

• 2008: LBP 20 billion
• 2009: LBP 24 billion
• 2010: LBP 30 billion
• 2011: LBP 36 billion
• 2012: LBP 32 billion (the estimates decreased in 2012 as only LBP 20 billion were brought in in 2011)

Number of Notaries Public

Article 3 of Law No. 337 issued on June 8, 1994 stipulated that the number, residence and regional capacities of notaries public be specified by a decree issued by the Lebanese cabinet. Introducing new notary public posts was to be dictated by cabinet decrees as well.

The number of notaries public has decreased drastically from 30 in 1940 to 112 in 1980 and further to 226 in 2000. Table 1 illustrates the evolution of the number of notaries public in Lebanon.

Source: Official Gazette