Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Content of the Principle of Reasonableness of Notarial Acts. – 3. Request of Evidence Documents by a Notary. – 4. Clarification of Expression of Will and Signing of Notarial Documents. – 5. Request of Evidence Documents. – 6. Conclusions.
Background: This article is devoted to the study of the rules of notarial acts, the observance of which ensures the reasonableness of notarial acts as exemplified by Ukraine as a state belonging to the countries with Latin notaries. At the same time, the standardisation of Latin notary standards in Ukrainian legislation is associated with certain problems that do not fully reveal the potential of the notary and its functions as a body of undisputed civil jurisdiction. In this regard, the purpose of the work is to determine the components of the procedural mechanism to ensure the reasonableness of notarial acts, identify those shortcomings in their standardisation that lead to litigation, and formulate proposals for further improvement of notarial law on this basis.
Methods: In the present research, we used the following methods: logical, systemic, specific sociological, hermeneutic, and modelling. It is established that the reasonableness of notarial acts is ensured by compliance with the rules on submission of evidence documents, requests for evidence documents by a notary, the signing of notarial documents, sending documents for examination, the compliance of documents submitted for notarial acts with statutory requests, and clarifying the will of the persons concerned.
Results and Conclusions: It is proved that a notarial act issued based on the actual circumstances established within the notarial case, confirmed by the relevant evidence provided by the notarial legislation, should be considered reasonable. The grounds for exercising the powers of a notary to demand documents are determined, and the need to differentiate the order of recovery depending on the subjects in which such information is requested is emphasised. The content of the notary’s powers to request documents is clarified, and the conditions under which the exercise of such powers should be considered the notary’s duty are determined.
The necessity of extending the duties of a notary to establish the will and real intentions of the persons concerned to all notarial acts and, in this regard, the standardisation of such a duty as a general rule of notarial acts is substantiated.
It is concluded that the distinction between documents for which the originals are subject to preservation in the notarial file and those that are photocopied then returned to interested persons should be made, taking into account the loss or preservation of their validity and legal significance after said notarial action. The author determines the grounds and conditions for sending a document for examination, which is a procedural action of a notary that can be made only at the initiative or consent of the person who submitted the document. The proposals on the tendencies of standardisation of the content of the requirements of the validity of notarial acts and the consequences of their violation are formulated.