What is notarized document? Legal validity of notarized documents in Vietnam

What is notarized document? Legal validity of notarized documents in Vietnam (Internet image)

1. What is notarized document?

According to Clause 4, Article 2 of the Law on Notarization 2014, notarized document means a contract, transaction or translation which has been certified by a notary in accordance with the Law on Notarization 2014.

2. Legal validity of notarized documents in Vietnam

- A notarized document is valid from the date a notary signs and appends the seal of his/her notarial practice organization to it.

- A notarized contract or transaction is binding on related parties; in case an obliged party fails to perform its/his/her obligations, the other party may request a court to settle the case in accordance with law, unless otherwise agreed upon by related parties.

- Notarized contracts and transactions may be used as evidence; details and circumstances of notarized contracts or transactions are not required to be proven, unless such contracts or transactions are declared to be invalid by courts.

- Notarized translations are valid for use as their translated papers or documents.

(Article 5 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

3. Scripts in notarized documents

- Scripts in notarized documents must be clear and legible, must not use any abbreviations and symbols, must not be written between two lines or over the lines, and must not be erased; no blank space is allowed, unless otherwise provided by the law in Vietnam.

- The time of notarization shall be expressed in terms of date, month and year; the hour and minute may also be indicated as requested by the notarization requester or considered necessary by the notary. Unless otherwise provided by law, numbers shall be written in both figures and words.

(Article 45 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

4. Signatures, fingerprints in notarized documents in Vietnam

- Notarization requesters, witnesses and interpreters shall sign contracts or transactions in the presence of notaries.

When a person competent to conclude contracts of a credit institution or another enterprise has registered his/her specimen signature at the notarial practice organization, he/she may sign the contract beforehand; a notary shall compare the signature in the contract with the specimen signature before notarization.

- Fingerprints may be used instead of signatures in case notarization requesters, witnesses or interpreters are unable to sign because they are physically disabled or do not know how to sign. For his/her fingerprint, the notarization requester, witness or interpreter shall use his/her right forefinger; if he/she cannot use the right forefinger, he/she may use the left forefinger; if he/she cannot use both forefingers, he/she may use another finger; in this case which finger of which hand is used must be clearly stated.

- Both fingerprint and signature may be used in the following cases:

= Notarization of testaments;

= At the request of the notarization requester;

= The notary finds it necessary to protect the interests of the notarization requester.

(Article 48 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

5. Pagination of notarized documents in Vietnam

Pagination of notarized documents is specified in Article 48 of the Law on Notarization 2014 as follows:

A notarized document containing two or more pages shall be paginated. For a notarized document containing two or more sheets, every two adjoining sheets shall be appended with an overlapping seal on their inner edges.

6. Correction of technical errors in notarized documents in Vietnam

- Technical errors include recording, typing or printing mistakes in notarized documents the correction of which does not affect the rights and obligations of parties to contracts or transactions.

- Technical errors in notarized documents shall be corrected at a notarial practice organization that has conducted the notarization. If the notarial practice organization that has conducted the notarization has terminated its operation or been transformed, transferred or dissolved, the notarial practice organization that is keeping the notarial records shall correct technical errors.

- A notary who corrects technical errors shall match each error against papers in the notarial records, underline the errors to be corrected, write the correct words, marks or numbers on the page margin, then sign and append the seal of the notarial practice organization. The notary shall notify the correction of technical errors to the parties to the contract or transaction.

(Article 50 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

Diem My

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