The UINL is an international association of the Latin type notarial system. The UINL, with its 91 members on four continents, promotes the cooperation between notaries worldwide and the notarial function at international level. It is also the voice of the Latin type Notariats when dealing with international organisations such as the OECD, the World Bank or the United Nations and its sub-organisations.
Themes
For the first time since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, it was finally possible to hold the Institutional Meetings in presence in Munich. These were characterised by personal and professional exchanges, but most of all, by the joy of meeting each other again. The work at the Institutional Meetings covered the entire spectrum of UINL’s various involvements. The focus was on digitalisation, the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, cooperation with international organisations as well as questions of gender equality. For instance, the technical guide for “Responsible governance of tenure and the preventive administration of justice” developed by the UINL in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, German Corporation for International Cooperation) was presented. The guide shows how the system of preventive justice helps to protect property rights and social interests, thereby also ensuring food security. Notaries make a crucial contribution in this respect. The guide is a flagship project at international level on the significance of the notarial profession and has been mainly elaborated in cooperation with Dr. Lovro Tomasic, notary in Erlangen.
Address by the President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Notaries
The President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Notaries, Volodymir Marchenko, also attended the meetings in Munich. In a moving speech, he reported on the war in Ukraine and its effects on the Ukrainian colleagues and their families. Of more than 6,000 notaries in Ukraine, only about 2,500 are currently able to exercise their functions and this only due to tremendous personal effort. The UINL assured the Ukrainian Chamber of Notaries and the Ukrainian notaries all the assistance it could provide. Further information on financial assistance for notaries in Ukraine is available on the website “Help Notaries of Ukraine” at https://help.npu.ua.
Social Programme
An exciting social programme accompanied the meetings. Prof. Dr. Jens Bormann, President of the German Federal Chamber of Notaries, opened the welcome reception in the BMW-Welt in Munich. He praised the achievements of the UINL’s President, Dr. Cristina N. Armella, and emphasised the pioneering role of German notaries in the area of digitalisation. For this purpose, he gave an overview of the current and future technological innovations in the German notariat: the Electronic Archive of Authentic Instruments, the new online procedures and a block chain-based register of valid powers of attorney and certificates of inheritance. Afterwards, Jens Kirchner, President of the Bavarian Chamber of Notaries, and Dr. Cristina N. Armella, extended their greetings to all guests. Dr. Marco Buschmann, Federal Minister of Justice, addressed the participants in a video speech. He thanked the notaries for their pioneering role at national and international level in the modernisation of the rule of law, especially in the area of digitalisation. He also acknowledged their importance in the fight against money laundering and the enforcement of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Furthermore, he emphasised that the international networking and cooperation of notaries within the framework of the UINL were a source of inspiration for the further development of national legal systems.
The festive highlight of the UINL Institutional Meetings was the gala evening at Nymphenburg Castle. Dr. Hans-Joachim Heßler, President of the Bavarian Constitutional Court and the Higher Regional Court of Munich, addressed the digitalisation projects of the Bavarian judiciary in his speech. He reaffirmed that digital technology can only support a human decision, but cannot replace it. The Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, acknowledged the contribution of the UINL in the field of development aid and pointed out common interests and potential for cooperation. She highlighted in particular the “Guide on the Responsible governance of tenure and preventive administration of justice” developed in cooperation with FAO and GIZ and underlined that there would be no food security without legal certainty.
Mexico will host the next UINL Institutional Meetings from 27 to 30 November 2022.
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