Dossier of request for appointment as a notary in Vietnam

Dossier of request for appointment as a notary in Vietnam (Internet image)

1. Criteria for notaries in Vietnam

A Vietnamese citizen who permanently resides in Vietnam, observes the Constitution and law, has good ethical qualities, and fully satisfies the following criteria shall be considered for appointment as a notary:

- Having a bachelor of law degree.

- Having performed legal work at agencies or organizations for at least 5 years after obtaining the bachelor of law degree.

- Having graduated from a notary training course as prescribed in Article 9 of the Law on Notarization 2014 or completed a notary re-training course as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of the Law on Notarization 2014.

- Meeting requirements on notarial practice probation results.

- Being physically fit for notarial practice.

(Article 8 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

2. Dossier of request for appointment as a notary in Vietnam

A dossier of request for appointment as a notary must comprise:

- A written request for appointment as a notary, made according to a form set by the Minister of Justice;

- The requester’s judicial record;

- A copy of the bachelor of law, master of law or doctor of law degree;

- Papers proving the working seniority in the legal sector. including:

+ A decision on appointment or re-appointment of a judge, procurator, or investigator, or the identity card of the judge, the identity card of the procurator, the certificate of the investigator, enclosed with papers proving the working time as a judge, procurator or investigator for 5 years or more;

+ A decision on appointment of the title of Professor, Associate Professor of Law, Doctorate Degree of Law; in case the Doctorate Degree of Law is granted by a foreign educational institution, the degree must be recognized according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training;

+ A decision on appointment of senior examiner of the court branch and senior examiner of the procuracy branch; senior expert, senior researcher, senior lecturer in the field of law;

+ Lawyer practicing certificate and lawyer’s card, accompanied by proof of lawyer practicing time of 5 years or more;

+ Other documents the person is exempt from notarization training as prescribed by law.

- A copy of the certificate of graduation from a notary training course. For those exempted from notary training, a copy of the certificate of completion of a notary re-training course and papers proving the eligibility for exemption from notary training as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 10 of the Law on Notarization 2014;

- A copy of the certificate of notarial practice probation results;

- A health certificate granted by a competent health agency.

(Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

3. Persons ineligible for appointment as notaries in Vietnam

Persons ineligible for appointment as notaries include:

- 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.

-. Those who are being subjected to administrative handling measures in accordance with the law on handling of administrative violations.

- Those who have their civil act capacity lost or restricted.

- 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.

- 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.

(Article 13 of the Law on Notarization 2014)

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