Vietnam: What are the penalties imposed on notary offices operating with registration as stipulated?
What are the regulations on the operation registration for notary offices in Vietnam?
According to Article 23 of the Law on Notarization 2014, the establishment and operation registration of notary offices in Vietnam are regulated as follows:
Establishment and operation registration of notary offices
1. Notaries who jointly establish a notary office shall compile a dossier of request for establishment of a notary office and submit it to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consideration and decision. A dossier of request for establishment of a notary office must comprise a written request and a scheme on establishment of the notary office, clearly stating the necessity to establish the notary office, its expected organizational structure, name, personnel, location, physical conditions and implementation plan; and copies of appointment decisions of notaries jointly establishing the notary office.
2. Within 20 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier of request for establishment of a notary office, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall consider and decide to permit the establishment of the notary office; in case of refusal, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.
3. Within 90 days after receiving the decision permitting its establishment, the notary office shall register its operation with the provincial-level Justice Department of the locality where the establishment decision is issued.
The contents of operation registration of a notary office include the name of the notary office, full name of its head, address of its head office, list of notaries being partners and list of contractual notaries of the notary office (if any).
4. A dossier of operation registration for a notary office must comprise a written operation registration request, papers proving the suitability of the notary office’s location with the contents stated in its establishment scheme and professional practice registration dossiers of notaries being its partners and contractual notaries (if any).
Within 10 working days after receiving a complete operation registration dossier, the provincial-level Justice Department shall issue a written operation registration to the notary office; in case of refusal, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.
5. A notary office may conduct notarial activities on the date it is granted a written operation registration by the provincial-level Justice Department.
Thus, the establishment and operation registration of notary offices in Vietnam are regulated as mentioned above.
What are the penalties imposed on notary offices operating with registration as stipulated? (Image from the Internet)
What is the administrative imposed on notary offices operating with registration as stipulated in Vietnam?
Under the provisions of Clause 4 Article 16 of Decree 82/2020/ND-CP regarding violations against the regulations on the operation of notary practice organizations:
Violations against the regulations on the operation of notary practice organizations
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4. A fine ranging from 20,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
a) Failing to register activities as prescribed;
b) Failing to register changes in the name of the Notary Office, or the full name of the Head Notary, or the address of the head office, or the list of partnership notaries, or the list of notaries working under employment contracts of the Notary Office;
c) Opening branches, representative offices, establishments, or other transaction locations outside the head office of the notary practice organization or engaging in production, business, or service activities other than the registered notary activities or conducting activities not in line with the registered content;
d) Failing to agree with the person making a will on the transfer of the will to another notary practice organization for safekeeping, or Failing to return the will and the safekeeping fee if there is no agreement or no agreement can be reached with the person making the will before the cessation of operations, conversion, transfer, or dissolution of the notary practice organization;
dd) Failing to register the practice of notaries in their organization as required;
e) Advertising notaries and their organization on mass media;
g) Failing to publicize the handling of notarization of an agreement on the division of inheritance or the handling of notarization of the inheritance acceptance document before performing notarization;
h) Failing to notify to revoke the practice registration of notaries who no longer work in their organization;
i) Failing to archive notarization records;
k) Losing a will that was received for safekeeping, except in cases of force majeure;
l) Losing notarization records, except in cases of force majeure;
m) Paying commissions or discounts to clients or brokers.
Thus, a notary office operating without registration as stipulated can be fined up to 30,000,000 VND.
The above fine applies to organizations, while individuals violating the same will be fined at half the amount imposed on organizations.
Are notary offices in Vietnam to remit illegal-gotten gains?
According to Clause 4 Article 16 of Decree 82/2020/ND-CP :
Violations against the regulations on the operation of notary practice organizations
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8. Remedial measures:
a) Recommend to the authorities, organization, competent person to consider and handle documents and papers that have been erased or altered to distort the contents as prescribed in point a clause 3 of this Article;
b) Mandate submission of illegal-gotten gains from the acts of violation specified at points đ and e of clause 2, points a, c, and đ of clause 4, clause 6 of this Article;
c) Mandate the notary practice organization storing notarization dossiers to notify the relevant authorities, organizations, and individuals about the acts of violation specified in clause 6 of this Article.
Thus, according to regulations, a notary office operating without registration as stipulated must submit the illegal-gotten gains from the act of violation.
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