Are persons under administrative handling measures in Vietnam eligible for appointment as notaries?
- Are persons under administrative handling measures in Vietnam eligible for appointment as notaries?
- May notaries under administrative handling measures in Vietnam practice notarization?
- Shall a notary who has been sanctioned twice for administrative violations in notarial practice in Vietnam be relieved from duty? Who has the authority to issue a decision on the relief from duty of a notary?
Are persons under administrative handling measures in Vietnam eligible for appointment as notaries?
Under Article 13 of the Law on Notarization 2014 on persons ineligible for appointment as notaries:
Persons ineligible for appointment as notaries
1. Those who are being examined for penal liability or have been convicted under a court’s legally effective sentence of an unintentional crime but have not yet had their criminal records written off, or of an intentional crime.
2. Those who are being subjected to administrative handling measures under the law on handling administrative violations.
3. Those who have their civil act capacity lost or restricted.
4. Cadres who have been disciplined in the form of removal from office; civil servants or public employees who have been disciplined in the form of dismissal; officers, professional army men, workers and public employees of agencies and units under the People’s Army, and officers, non-commissioned officers, workers and employees of units under the People’s Public Security Force who have been disciplined in the form of deprival of the title of army man or people’s policeman or have been expelled from the service.
5. Those who have their legal practice certificates revoked after they are disciplined in the form of disbarment; those who have been deprived of the right to use their legal practice certificates and the 3-year period, counting from the effective date of the decision on revocation of legal practice certificates or the date of completing the serving of the decision on deprival of the right to use legal practice certificates, has not yet expired.
According to the above provisions, persons under administrative handling measures under the law on handling administrative violations are ineligible for appointment as notaries.
May notaries under administrative handling measures in Vietnam practice notarization?
Under Article 14 of the Law on Notarization 2014 on the suspension from notarial practice:
Suspension from notarial practice
1. The provincial-level Department of Justice where a notary has registered his/her professional practice shall decide to suspend the notary from professional practice in the following cases:
a/ The notary is being examined for penal liability;
b/ The notary is being subjected to an administrative handling measure.
2. The maximum duration of suspension from notarial practice is 12 months.
3. The provincial-level Department of Justice shall decide to cancel the decision on suspension from notarial practice ahead of time in the following cases:
a/ A decision on termination of investigation or the case is issued, or a legally effective verdict of not guilty is issued by a court;
b/ The notary is no longer subjected to the administrative handling measure in accordance with the law on handling administrative violations.
4. The decision on suspension from notarial practice and decision on cancellation of the decision on suspension from notarial practice shall be sent to the notary, the notarial practice organization where the notary works, the People’s Committee of the province or centrally run city (below referred to as provincial-level People’s Committee) and the Ministry of Justice.
According to the above provisions, the Department of Justice of the province where the notary under an administrative handling measure has registered his/her professional practice shall decide to suspend the notary's professional practice.
When the notary is no longer subjected to the administrative handling measure under the law on handling administrative violations, the provincial-level Department of Justice shall decide to cancel the decision on suspension from notarial practice ahead of time.
Shall a notary who has been sanctioned twice for administrative violations in notarial practice in Vietnam be relieved from duty? Who has the authority to issue a decision on the relief from duty of a notary?
Under Article 15 of the Law on Notarization 2014 on relief from duty of notaries:
Relief from duty of notaries
….
2. A notary shall be relieved from duty in the following cases:
a/ He/she no longer satisfies the criteria for notaries prescribed in Article 8 of this Law;
b/ He/she has his/her civil act capacity lost or restricted;
c/ He/she concurrently performs another regular job;
d/ He/she fails to conduct notarial practice within 2 years after being appointed as a notary or fails to conduct notarial practice for 12 consecutive months or more;
dd/ The duration of suspension from notarial practice prescribed in Clause 2, Article 14 of this Law has expired but the reason for the suspension still exists;
e/ He/she has been sanctioned twice for administrative violations in notarial practice but still continues committing violations; he/she has been disciplined in the form of reprimand or in a heavier form twice but still continues committing violations, or has been disciplined in the form of dismissal;
g/ He/she is convicted under a court’s legally effective sentence;
h/ He/she is ineligible for appointment as a notary in the cases prescribed in Article 13 of this Law at the time of being appointed.
3. Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall scrutinize and examine the satisfaction of professional practice criteria by notaries in their localities.
When having grounds to believe that a notary falls into a case subject to relief from duty prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the provincial-level Department of Justice shall send a written proposal for relief from duty of the notary, enclosed with relevant supporting documents, to the Minister of Justice.
4. Within 15 days after receiving a dossier of proposal for relief from duty of a notary, the Minister of Justice shall consider and decide to relieve the notary from duty.
Thus, a notary who has been sanctioned twice for administrative violations in notarial practice but still continues committing violations shall be relieved from duty.
Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall scrutinize and examine the satisfaction of professional practice criteria by notaries in their localities.
When having grounds to believe that a notary falls into a case subject to relief from duty, the provincial-level Department of Justice shall send a written proposal for relief from duty of the notary, enclosed with relevant supporting documents, to the Minister of Justice.
Within 15 days after receiving a dossier of proposals for relief from duty of a notary, the Minister of Justice shall consider and decide to relieve the notary from duty.
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