NOTABLE NEW POINTS OF THE 2024 NOTARIZATION LAW

Notable new points of The 2024 Notarization Law

The 2024 Notarization Law has been approved by the National Assembly and will come into effect from July 1, 2025. the 2024 Notarization Law includes several notable new provisions as follows:

1. Revision of the Definition of Notarization under Clause 1, Article 2 of the 2024 Notarization Law
   Notarization means the written certification by a notary of a notarial practice organization of the authenticity and lawfulness of a contract or another civil transaction (below referred to as contract or transaction) or of the accuracy, lawfulness and conformity with social ethics of the Vietnamese or foreign-language translation of a paper or document (below referred to as translation) which is prescribed by law or voluntarily requested by an individual or organization to be notarized.

Compared to the 2014 Notarization Law, the 2024 Notarization Law no longer includes provisions for certifying translations, but instead focuses on verifying the signature of the translator. Clause 11, Article 76 of the 2024 Notarization Law specifies that notarized translations before the law’s effective date will remain valid. If a translation needs to be used, the procedure to authenticate the translator’s signature must be carried out in accordance with the 2024 Notarization Law and the law on authentication.

2. Improvements to Notary Public Regulations
   (1) Appointment Criteria for Notaries: New Updates under Article 10 of the 2024 Notarization Law

• The legal work experience requirement has been reduced from 5 years to 3 years.

Specifically, individuals with at least 3 years of legal work experience at a government agency or organization after obtaining a law bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree are eligible.

• A new provision limits the age of notaries, stating that no notary shall be older than 70 years of age at the time of practice.
• Master’s degree or Doctorate in law has been added to the qualification requirements, so the qualification for appointing a notary is having a Bachelor’s degree in Law, a Master’s degree in Law, or a Doctorate in Law..

(2) Notary Training

The exemption from notary training has been abolished. From now on, all individuals wishing to be appointed as notaries must undergo notary training.However, the training period has been reduced by half for certain individuals with high legal qualifications or those with experience in certain legal positions. Specifically, Clause 3 of Article 11 of the 2024 Notary Public Law stipulates that the following individuals shall undergo 6 months of notarial training:

• Individuals who have served for at least 5 years as judges, prosecutors, investigators, senior court clerks, mid-level civil enforcement officers, senior civil enforcement officers, senior prosecutors, legal aid officers, senior legal inspectors in the judicial sector, senior legal advisors, senior legal researchers, or senior lecturers in the field of law;
• Notaries, lawyers, and auctioneers who have practiced for at least 5 years;
• Professors and associate professors specializing in law; doctors of law;
• Individuals who have held positions such as senior court clerks, senior civil enforcement officers, senior prosecutors, senior legal aid officers, senior legal inspectors in the judicial sector, senior legal advisors, senior legal researchers, or senior lecturers in the field of law.

• All applicants must undergo 12 months of practical training (Clause 1, Article 12).

(3) Appointment, Reappointment, and Removal of Notaries

Additional provisions on circumstances under which individuals cannot be appointed as notaries, the grounds for dismissal, and reappointment criteria have been added under Articles 14, 16, and 17 of the 2024 Notarization Law.

(4) Rights and Obligations of Notaries

New provisions have been added to clarify and strengthen the responsibility of notaries, outlined in Article 18 of the 2024 Notarization Law.

3. Amendments on Notary Practice Organizations
   (1) Notary bureaus (Article 20 of the 2024 Notarization Law)

• The legal representative of a notary bureaus is the head of the notary bureaus, appointed or dismissed by the Director of the Department of Justice, as opposed to the Provincial People’s Committee, as per the 2014 Notarization Law. The head of the notary bureaus must be a notary and have at least 2 years of practice experience.

The conditions for establishing a Notary Public Office under the 2024 Notarization Law are as follows:

• The establishment of the Notary bureaus is decided by the Provincial People’s Committee.
• The Notary bureaus is a public service unit under the Department of Justice, with its own office, seal, and account, organized and operated in accordance with the provisions of the 2024 Notarization Law, laws related to public service units, and must meet the following conditions:

• It must have at least two notaries; in districts where a Notary bureau is established and operates as a private enterprise, the Notary bureaus may have only one notary;

• It must have an office that meets the conditions set by the Government;

• The name of the Notary bureaus must include the phrase “Notary bureaus” followed by its establishment sequence number and the name of the province or centrally controlled city where the Notary bureaus is established.

The Notary bureaus can only be newly established in districts that do not yet have a Notary bureaus capable of meeting the notarization needs of individuals and organizations.

(2) Notary Offices (Article 23 of the 2024 Notarization Law)

• Inheriting the provisions of the 2014 Notarization Law regarding the organization and operation of Notary Offices in the form of a partnership, the new provision allows for the establishment of Notary Offices in the form of private enterprises in administrative districts with low population density, underdeveloped infrastructure and services, and difficulties in establishing Notary Offices in the form of partnerships. The list of administrative districts eligible for the establishment of Notary Offices as private enterprises is determined by the Government.
• Notary Offices organized and operated as private enterprises shall have the owner of the private enterprise serve as the Head of the Notary Office, who must be a notary and have practiced notarial services for at least two years.
• Notary Offices organized and operated as partnerships must have at least two partners and no capital contributors. The partners must be notaries and have equal rights when making decisions regarding the Notary Office’s operations.
• It is not mandatory for the name of the Notary Office to be based on the name of one of the partner notaries. The name of the Notary Office shall include the phrase “Notary Office” and a Vietnamese name agreed upon by the partner notaries of the office organized and operated as a partnership, or chosen by the notary serving as the Head of the Notary Office organized and operated as a private enterprise (Clause 4, Article 23).

New provisions are added regarding cases in which individuals are not allowed to establish or participate in the establishment of a new Notary Office (Clause 2, Article 24), specifically:

• Individuals who are currently civil servants of a Notary bureaus;
• Individuals who are currently partners in a Notary Office;
• Individuals who are currently the Head of a Notary Office organized and operated as a private enterprise;
• Individuals who have not completed the two-year period required by Clause 6, Article 27, Clause 5, Article 31, and Clause 4, Article 34 of this Law.

4. New Provisions on Notary Practice
   (1) Regarding the Forms of Practice:

A new form of practice has been added, allowing notaries to work under employment contracts at notary bureaus.

According to Article 37 of the 2024 Notarization Law, the forms of notarial practice include:

• Notaries working as civil servants at Notary bureaus;
• Notaries being partners in a Notary Office organized and operated in the form of a partnership, or serving as the Head of a Notary Public Office organized and operated as a private enterprise;
• Notaries working under employment contracts at Notary Bureaus or Notary Offices.

(2) Regarding the Notarization Request Procedures:

• The request form for notarization (Clause 1, Article 42) has been removed.
• It is now explicitly required to provide a copy of the identity document of the person requesting notarization, including: a citizen identification card, passport, or other documents that confirm the identity of the requester in accordance with the law.
• Regarding the general procedures for notarizing transactions, the 2024 Notarization Law adds certain types of real estate transactions where notarization may not be subject to jurisdiction based on the locality in which the transaction takes place (Article 44).

(3) Regarding Notarization Locations:

It is clearly stated that notarization can be performed outside the premises of the notary practice organization in the following cases for the person requesting notarization:

• Making a will at their residence in accordance with the Civil Code;
• Incapacity to travel due to health reasons; currently undergoing inpatient treatment or being isolated under the instructions of a medical institution;
• Currently being detained or imprisoned; serving a sentence; or undergoing administrative detention;
• For other justifiable reasons as specified by the Government.

(4) Electronic Notarization:

The law introduces provisions for electronic notarization (Articles 62 to 65) as part of a legal framework to support digital transformation in notarial services, marking a significant shift from the 2014 Notary Law.