German Notaries

I was in Nuremberg recently, and saw a sign for a notary’s office (see the photo below). It prompted me to do some research on notaries in Germany.

The Bundesnotarkammer is a body established by law to represent civil law notaries. From the Bundesnotarkammer website, I found out that today, there are over 8,000 notaries in Germany. There are three types of notaries. In most of the country, notaries only carry out notarial work. In the rest of the country, civil law notaries also work as attorneys. In Baden-Wurttemberg, notaries may also be employed by the state. But the same professional rules apply irrespective of these differences.

Notaries are appointed according to a merit-based system and have undergone some degree of practical training. Admission to the profession is highly competitive, and numbers are deliberately limited to ensure their independence and impartiality.

As in Malaysia, notaries are authorised to practice in certain areas only. Again, as here, fees are fixed by legislation. I have a feeling the fees are substantially more than those notaries in Malaysia are allowed to charge.

As to the scope of work of the German notary, I quote from the Bundesnotarkammer website:

“German civil law notaries play a key role in real estate law, the law of mortgages, the law of contracts, corporate law as well as family and succession law. Within the German system of “preventive justice” the civil law notaries’ function is complementary to the role of a judge. The intervention of a notary is required by law in cases of important transactions with long-term effects and a particular economic or personal significance for the parties concerned. Such cases are, among others, the sale of land, the establishment of a mortgage, the incorporation of a limited liability company (GmbH) or a public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft), certain corporate share deals or asset deals and matrimonial property agreements.”

Nuremberg is a beautiful city, by the way, with a rich history dating back to medieval times.