Law on notaries to come to effect in one year's time

BELGRADE -- The Serbian parliament adopted on Wednesday the amendments to the law on public notaries that postponed the implementation of the law by another year.

(Tanjug, file)

The amendments will also give future notaries more authority.

The amendments were supported by 134 MPs, giving notaries more power so the profession would be sustainable in practice, as it has been shown there are not too many interested in becoming public notaries.

Justice Minister Nikola Selaković explained that the second postponement came because only 55 people had passed the test required to become notaries, while 100 were needed to form a chamber.

Notaries will have the exclusive power to form and verify real estate contracts, so they will have to review all parts of the contract and warn parties of potential issues, Selaković said.

"It will improve the citizens' and investors' safety and root out frauds involving multiple sales of houses and apartments," the minister believes.

The amendments will enter into force one day after they are published in the Official Gazette, and they will be implemented starting on March 1, 2014.