Modern jurisprudence would not be what we know it today without representatives of this profession. A notary is a lawyer who certifies transactions, certifying the fidelity and authenticity of documents and signatures. Let’s talk in more detail about the history and traditions of the professional holiday.
When celebrated
Notaries Day is celebrated annually in Our Country 26 April. In 2023, tens of thousands of our compatriots will celebrate it.
history of the holiday
The emergence of the profession of a notary is attributed to the period of Ancient Rome. At that time, oral agreements were transferred to paper by clerks, it is they who are considered to be the prototype of modern notaries.
However, scribes did not specialize exclusively in legal papers. Therefore, the profession of tabellions arose – people whose activities were associated only with legal documents, namely legal acts and judicial papers. Their activities were under the strict control of the state – for example, the amount of remuneration for services rendered was appointed by the ruler, the tabellion could not set its price.
The very word – “notariat”, as well as the institution of the same name, also arose in Rome, at the suggestion of the Roman Church. This phenomenon is dated to the end of the XNUMXnd – the beginning of the XNUMXrd century. Notaries (from the word “notta” – “sign”) served in the dioceses and took shorthand of the conversations of bishops with parishioners, and also dealt with church document management. Two or three such specialists served at each temple. Later, the functions of notaries expanded to the secular area of life, and representatives of this profession began to meet not only in Rome, but also in Italy and throughout Europe.
In Our Country, for the first time, an analogue of a notary is mentioned in documents of the XNUMXth century found during excavations in the Novgorod region. Archaeologists have found a birch-bark letter, which in modern terms can be called a notarization. According to this document, the woman vouches for the money taken from another person, and the scribe (whom we can safely call the first notary in the history of Our Country) certifies the paper with her signature.
The work of the analogue of the notary in Our Country became more organized and centralized in the XNUMXth century. A court charter found during excavations in Pskov speaks of the need to present written evidence during disputes related to property. It also describes the requirements for making wills. The Belozersky customs charter compiled in the same century contains information about the correct conditions for processing a sale and purchase transaction.
Until the XNUMXth century, the notary as a separate institution did not exist in Our Country. The functions of these specialists, as in Ancient Rome, were performed by scribes, sometimes by clergy. But already in the XNUMXth century, the notary was formed as an independent unit. Notaries worked at each district court, their appointment was handled by the chairman of the Judicial Chamber. At that time, the work of notaries was mostly associated with property documents.
After the revolution, the situation changed dramatically. The abolition of private property changed the status of the notaries for a long time – it became completely state-owned. In the period from 1917 to 1922, notaries performed only the formal functions of certifying documents. However, gradually the number of actions increased greatly. This was enshrined in a resolution that was valid until the collapse of the USSR, where all the obligations of notaries were spelled out. In 1993, this institution again became private and independent of the state.
In 2016, the notaries celebrated 150 years of its existence. In honor of the important date, a Decree of the President of the Federation was issued on the creation of an official professional holiday. According to this document, a permanent date was assigned to the Notary Day – April 26th.
However, until 2016, experts celebrated this day, but unofficially. Only now they celebrated it on April 27th. The fact is that on April 14 (according to the old style), 1866, Emperor Alexander II signed the “Regulations on the notarial part”. It is from this year that the modern notary begins. When they chose the date for the unofficial holiday – April 27 – they did not take into account the peculiarities of the translation from the old style to the new one. But they took this into account when issuing the presidential decree and chose a historically accurate day – April 26th.
Holiday traditions
Like most similar holidays, Notary Day in Our Country is widely celebrated within the professional community. As a rule, large conferences and meetings are timed to coincide with this day, where colleagues can not only exchange knowledge and experience, but also congratulate each other in an informal setting.