The Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy 2019-2023 envisages conditions for notary certification of transactions and exchange of documents by electronically. It is noted that in case of relevant regulations, it will be possible to carry out the mentioned action in the whole territory of the Republic of Armenia, as well as between other states and notaries of the Republic of Armenia.

Iravaban.net talked about the topic with mediator Ms Karine Poghosyan, who expressed her opinion on the proposed changes.

– Ms Muradyan, although this change has not been implemented yet, will you mention what risks you see here?

– Of course, as long as the electronic notarization and document exchange function is not implemented, the risks can be diversified. In particular, from the absence of the possibility of verifying the real will of the party to the transaction in free, unfettered, separate (only notary and person) conditions to the absence of even the ability of the person, and sometimes even the possibility of identification; from the absence of clarification of the fact that the documents were forged to the confidentiality of the notarial act, or the same, the absence of ability to maintain notarial secrecy. Undoubtedly, the notary should not be legally responsible for the risks arising from such problems. However, notarization concluded electronically may increase the risk of damage to the parties.

Of course, I think it is necessary to emphasize the benefits of the planned change along with the risk forecast, especially in the case of an epidemic when a number of problems arose, where citizens could not make important and necessary notarization acts. Therefore, in today’s reality, the need for electronic communication and notarizations through it is urgent. At the same time, I consider it necessary to refer to the experience of the neighboring Republic of Georgia in this field, where notarization of the transaction by electronic means of communication has been used for several years, if the deal has only one side and the latter seems to have succeeded

– The strategy also provides for the provision of conditions for the certification of contracts concluded by a notary electronically with an electronic digital signature. It is noted that as a result of such arrangements, the institution of providing a writ of execution will be expanded, which will contribute to the correct and fast execution of notarial acts and increase the quality of citizens’ services. What can you say about this? In your opinion, what changes are expected with the introduction of this institute?

– It is not only in the case of concluding and certifying contracts electronically that the application of the institute of writ of execution (WoE) and the correct and fast execution of notarial acts can be expanded. The mentioned are the subject of our daily attention and care in case of certification of the contracts concluded in accordance with the current legislation and no effort is spared to ensure them. Extensive non-application is based solely on insufficient awareness of citizens and legal entities which leads to almost no demand. The quality of service provided to citizens and legal entities may develop not only as a result of electronic ratification of contracts, but also through the development of WoE in force under the legislation. Taken separately, the development of the institute of WoE, in itself, is undoubtedly aimed at the rapid and effective restoration of the violated rights of citizens out of court. And only after the introduction of the institute of concluding contracts electronically will it be clear to what extent it contributes to the achievement of the set goals.

– The strategy envisages reviewing the procedures for subjecting the notary to disciplinary liability and terminating his/her powers, as the grounds and procedures established by law are not clear. Do you see the need to introduce these procedures? Do you think it will increase the efficiency of the notary system?

– In my opinion, the grounds and procedures established by law to subjecting the notary to disciplinary liability and terminate his/her powers are quite clear. However, whatever is introduced, the notary and the activity, which is already quite complicated, burdened and responsible, should not be pressured. The introduced measures must be lawful, proportionate to the expected goals. Moreover, it is a fact that at present the personal and property liability of a notary, which is envisaged by the current law, is already a rather large and effective means, a restraining tool to increase the efficiency of the notary’s work and the notary system in general, as the notary bears property responsibility defined by the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia not only for the damage caused as a result of the violation committed by him/her intentionally but also through negligence.

– The Judicial Reform Strategy proposes that the notarial actions in which the parties are present be videotaped by mutual consent of the parties. What will this give you while you work? Do you see possible problems and risks?

– The notary is responsible for maintaining the notarial secrecy, but by the mutual consent of the persons participating in the transaction, the video recording of the transaction will not violate the principle of notarial secrecy as it will only apply to the parties to the transaction. However, video recording will help to reduce disputes between the parties in the future and as a result of which the judicial system will be somewhat relieved. For example, after the transaction, the party/parties will no longer claim that they did not understand what document they signed and that it does not correspond to their real intentions. In any other case, no other person/heir can dispute the authenticity of the will of the testator/donator, because as a result of the video recording, disputing such a circumstance will simply be rejected. There are many similar examples, but I have presented a few to make clear the urgent need for such an institution, so I think it is not appropriate to talk about risks here.

– As a practicing  specialist, what problems do you face during your work, in the direction of which there are no goals in the Strategy, but you would like that problem or problems to be solved first?

– As in other fields of law, there are many and various problems in notary as well. However, many problems can only be solved through legislative changes, because, as is obvious, with the development of the latest technologies in life today, the rhythm and quality of life are also changing, in line with which there is a need to frequently make legislative changes and modernize legislative acts in the field. While their untimely changes cause big and serious problems, which, of course, reflects on a certain restriction of the exercise of human and civil rights. The RA Notary Chamber has a serious role to play in eliminating problems in the notary field, trying to ensure a common practice, which is also one of the most important components of the development of the field.

Next is the financial aspect. I would like to note that along with a number of improvements in the 2013 Notary Development Concept, Sub-clause 9 of Clause 9 of the Concept envisages reviewing the tariffs for notarial acts as the establishment of tariffs for transactions, regardless of the transaction price, does not comply with the principle of full material responsibility of the notary. However, almost all the points of the Concept have been fulfilled, except for the revision of tariff. And notaries who operate in remote or border areas face serious financial problems, due to the scarcity of applicants, not even being able to provide the necessary resources for the normal operation of the office and pay the tax and other obligations set for the notary. In addition the business regime is applied to the collection of fees for the services provided by the notary, which in the above-mentioned cases does not provide adequate income for the services provided by the notary, as a result of which the vacancies of notaries in remote or border areas are not filled, which in turn violates the rights of citizens and legal entities.