Fines for administrative violations of regulations on operations of notarial practice organizations in Vietnam

Fines for administrative violations of regulations on operations of notarial practice organizations in Vietnam (Image from Internet)

Fines for administrative violations of regulations on operations of notarial practice organizations in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP, the fines for administrative violations of regulations on operations of notarial practice organizations in Vietnam are as follows:

- A fine from 3,000,000 VND to 7,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

+ Failure to post or incomplete posting of work schedules; notarization procedures; regulations for receiving notarization requests; notarization fees, notarization remuneration, and other costs; list of translation collaborators at the notary office;

+ Publishing the operational registration content in the newspaper not on time or with incomplete content or incorrect number of times as prescribed;

+ Failure to properly or fully implement reporting policies; inaccurate reporting on the organization and operation of the notary office;

+ Improper or non-compliant establishment, management, and use of records and forms in notarization activities;

+ Non-compliant preservation of notarization dossiers;

+ Use of signboards not following the template or with incorrect content as per the operating registration certificate;

+ Improper assignment of guiding notary assistants;

+ Refusal to accept notary assistants appointed by the Department of Justice without a valid reason;

+ Refusal to accept testament custody without a valid reason;

+ Failure to maintain compliance with the office conditions of the notarization organization as prescribed;

+ Failure to affix the stamp of the notarization organization on notarized documents signed by notaries or failure to affix overlapping seals on notarized documents consisting of two or more pages;

+ Failure to continuously purchase professional liability insurance for the notaries in the organization;

+ Failure to facilitate the participation of notaries in annual professional training.

- A fine from 7,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

+ Failure to publish the operational registration content in the newspaper as prescribed;

+ Failure to implement reporting policies as prescribed;

+ Lack of signboards as prescribed;

+ Failure to establish records in notarization activities as prescribed;

+ Charging notarization fees higher than the ceiling rate issued by the provincial People's Committee or higher than the posted remuneration; charging other costs higher than the agreed amount;

+ Charging notarization fees contrary to regulations;

+ Failure to implement working policies according to the working days and hours of state administrative agencies;

+ Posting the acceptance of notarization requests for documents on inheritance distribution agreement, inheritance acknowledgment documents not in time or incorrect location or content as prescribed;

+ Failure to share information on the notarization database software regarding the origin and transaction status of the property and other information about preventive measures applied to property related to contracts, transactions notarized by the organization’s notaries;

+ Failure to notify in writing the list of translation collaborators of the notarization organization to the Department of Justice where the office is located;

+ Purchase of professional liability insurance without ensuring the minimum fee level or not on time or not fully for all notaries in the organization as prescribed;

+ Failure to timely register for operations as prescribed.

- A fine from 10,000,000 VND to 20,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

+ Erasing, altering, falsifying the content of the establishment permit, the operating registration certificate of the notary office;

+ Failure to purchase professional liability insurance for the organization’s notaries;

+ Preserving notarization dossiers outside the office of the notarization organization without written consent from the Department of Justice.

- A fine from 20,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

+ Failure to register for operations as prescribed;

+ Failure to register changes in the name of the notary office or the name of the head notary, office address, list of partner notaries, or list of contract notaries as prescribed;

+ Establishing branches, representative offices, facilities, transaction locations outside the office of the notarization organization or engaging in production, business, and service activities not registered for notarization activities or not in accordance with the registered content;

+ Failure to agree with the testator on transferring testament custody to another notarization organization; failure to return the testament and the testament custody fee in case of no agreement or failure to reach an agreement with the testator before the notarization organization ceases operations, reorganization, transfer, or dissolution;

+ Failure to register the practice for the notaries in the organization as prescribed;

+ Advertising in the mass media about notaries and the organization;

+ Failure to post the acceptance of notarization requests for documents on inheritance distribution agreement, or inheritance acknowledgment documents before notarization;

+ Failure to notify to deregister the practice for notaries no longer working in the organization;

+ Failure to preserve notarization dossiers;

+ Losing the preserved testament, except in cases of force majeure;

+ Losing the notarization dossier, except in cases of force majeure;

+ Paying commissions, discounts to notarization requestors or intermediaries.

- A fine from 30,000,000 VND to 40,000,000 VND for operating when the notary office is merged, acquired, or integrated without being granted or re-granted or without changing the operating registration content.

- A fine from 40,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND for one of the following acts:

+ Not being a notarization organization but engaging in notarization activities in any form;

+ Allowing unqualified or non-notaries to practice at the organization.

- Additional penalties:

+ Suspension of operations for 01 to 03 months for violations as prescribed in point b, clause 6, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP;

+ Suspension of operations for 03 to 06 months for violations as prescribed in point c, clause 4, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP;

+ Confiscation of altered, falsified establishment permits, and operating registration certificates for violations as prescribed in point a, clause 3, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP.

- Remedial measures:

+ Proposed competent agencies, organizations, and individuals to review and handle erased or altered documents and texts as prescribed in point a, clause 3, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP;

+ Obligate the return of illegal profits gained from the violations as prescribed in points d and e, clause 2, points a, c and d, clause 4, clause 6, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP;

+ Obligate the notarization organization preserving notarization dossiers to notify relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals about violations as prescribed in clause 6, Article 16 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP.

Note: According to the provisions of clauses 4 and 5, Article 4 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP, the penalty levels stipulated in Chapters II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII Decree 82/2020/ND-CP are applicable to administrative violations by individuals, except for the cases prescribed in clause 5, Article 4 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP. In cases where organizations commit the same administrative violations as individuals, the fine level is double the fine for individuals.

- The fines stipulated in Articles 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 24, 26, 29, 33, 39, 50, 53, 63, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 80 Decree 82/2020/ND-CP are the fine levels for administrative violations by organizations in Vietnam.

Vo Tan Dai

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE