The Federal Minister of Justice referred to the notariat as the “cornerstone of our European legal system. It serves to protect freedom.” Dr. Buschmann particularly addressed the fact that the protection of freedom is achieved through form. By preserving the form within the framework of the preventive administration of justice, notaries provide legal certainty and legal peace. Thus, the Federal Minister of Justice also counters the occasional view according to which the notarial profession of the European Union hinders market freedom.
In the opinion of the Federal Minister of Justice, notaries can only fulfil their tasks in this regard as holders of a public office: “control of legal effectiveness, impartial clarification of the facts, advice given to the parties involved, probative value and enforceability of authentic instruments – all this is only conceivable if notaries exercise public authority.”
Dr. Buschmann considers the control of legal effectiveness within the German register system as another important task of the notariat. ”Notaries play a decisive role in ensuring the correctness of the register entries”. In this context, he also emphasised the Latin notariat’s economic advantages compared to legal systems that waive form requirements in commercial and company law or in real estate law: “Without notarial intervention, mistakes easily occur and transactions regularly require a costly title search and title insurance. Consequently, the higher costs related to the notarial activity of the Latin notariat eventually lead to quite significant economic advantages.”
The Federal Minister of Justice concluded his speech by assuring the new President of the CNUE Dr. Peter Stelmaszczyk of his support for future tasks.
Dr. Peter Stelmaszczyk took over the CNUE presidency on 20 January 2023, succeeding the Italian notary Giampaolo Marcoz. Other high-ranking personalities, such as the Latvian Minister of Justice Dr. Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, attended the handover ceremony at the Humboldt Carré alongside the German Federal Minister of Justice.
Please click here to access the Federal Minister’s speech.
Please click here to access the Bundesnotarkammer’s press release on the CNUE handover of office.
