Skills and tasks required in notarial apprenticeship under Circular 08/2023 in Vietnam

Skills and tasks required in notarial apprenticeship under Circular 08/2023 in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Skills and tasks required in notarial apprenticeship under Circular 08/2023 in Vietnam

Skills and tasks in notarial apprenticeship include:

- Skills in receiving and classifying notarization requests; skills in checking the authenticity and legality of documents included in the documentation seeking notarial service; skills in reviewing and identifying entities and active legal capacity of participants signing contracts and transactions;

- Skills in dealing with notarization petitioners, behaving according to the Code of Ethics for notary practice; skills in explaining to notarization petitioners their legal rights, obligations and interests, the meaning and legal consequences of notarization; skills in explaining reasons for refusing notarization requests;

- Skills in studying and proposing solutions to documentation seeking notarial service;

- Skills in drafting contracts and transactions at the request of a notarization petitioner; skills in checking the authenticity and legality of draft contracts and transactions prepared by a notarization petitioner; skills in verification;

- Skills in notarizing translations; skills in authenticating copies and authenticating signatures in documents;

- Skills in drafting testimonies;

- Checking, arranging, and classifying notarized and authenticated documents for record-keeping;

- Skills in utilizing and using notary databases and applying information technology in notary activities;

- Skills in administrating notarial practice organizations;

- Other skills and tasks related to notarization as assigned by the notary mentor.

Notary mentors shall instruct apprentices to perform the apprenticeship skills and tasks specified above. For an apprentice with a 6-month apprenticeship period, the notary mentor must review and agree with the notarial apprenticeship organization on the required skills and tasks that the apprentice needs to be mentored in, and allocate time for each task/skill that is suitable for the apprentice.

(Article 6 of Circular 08/2023/TT-BTP)

2. People not eligible to register for a notary apprenticeship in Vietnam

Any person mentioned below is not eligible to register for a notary apprenticeship in Vietnam:

- A person who faces a criminal prosecution, or has been convicted of a crime under a legally effective judgment of the Court for an unintentional crime whose criminal record has not yet been expunged, or for an intentional crime;

- A person who is subject to an administrative sanction as per law on administrative sanctions;

- A person who is incapacitated or has limited legal capacity or has limited cognition or behavior control;

- An official or public employee (except an public employee working for a public notary office); a commissioned officer, professional soldier, national defense worker in a People’s Army unit; a commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, or worker in a People’s Public Security unit;

- An official who is disciplined in the form of dismissal; a public employee who is disciplined in the form of removal; a commissioned officer, professional soldier, or worker in a People’s Army unit or People’s Public Security unit who is disciplined in the form of being stripped of their soldier title, People's Public Security title, or removed from the military or public security;

- A person who is working under an employment contract for an agency, organization, or enterprise, unless that person is working under an employment contract for a notarial practice organization that he/she is serving the apprenticeship or that person signed an employment contract with an agency, organization, or enterprise with working hours that do not coincide with the working hours of the notarial apprenticeship organization.

(Clause 5 of Article 3 of Circular 08/2023/TT-BTP)

More details can be found in Circular 08/2023/TT-BTP taking effect on November 20, 2023, replacing Circular 04/2015/TT-BTP.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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