What do notaries do?

Notaries hold a public office and are entrusted with state authority to draw up public instruments. But what exactly does that mean? In this article, we try to explain in simple terms what notaries do.

The core task of notaries is drawing up public instruments. We focus on this task in this article. Future articles will shed light on other important tasks of notaries. (Section 1 NO)

Public instruments

Public instruments carry a presumption of authenticity and constitute full proof of what the notary attests in them. Drawing up such public instruments is important for the smooth functioning of our legal system and creates legal certainty. We all benefit from being able to rely on the accuracy of public registers such as the land register or the company register. This lowers the overall economic cost of obtaining reliable information. In the USA, for example, where there is no public register comparable to the Austrian company register, lengthy and expensive research is often needed to find out who owns a company.

Drawing up public instruments contributes to the administration of justice. This task, which is actually a state task, is partly delegated to notaries. In particular, notaries relieve the workload of judicial officers. Delegating this state task means that it is carried out efficiently and quickly.

Notarial deeds and certifications

The public instruments used in legal transactions are mostly notarial deeds or certifications of signatures:

• Notarial deed: A notarial deed (Notariatsakt) is a written instrument drawn up by a notary. Notarial deeds are read out by the notary, who also explains what the individual provisions in the deed mean and what effects they have. The notarial deed protects against hasty or uninformed decisions in very important and far-reaching contracts (e.g. setting up a GmbH). It also secures evidence of the authenticity and accuracy of the instrument. Click here to book a notarial deed with a partner notary on the notarity platform.
• Certification of a signature: When certifying a signature, the notary merely confirms that the signature is genuine. Unlike with a notarial deed, the document is not read out when a signature is certified, and the notary is not obliged to advise on the content of the document. Thanks to the notarial certification of a signature on a document, everyone can trust that the document was signed by exactly this person and without coercion. The certification of a signature therefore also makes an important contribution to legal clarity and legal certainty. You can book a certification with a partner notary on the notarity platform here.

The trustworthy drawing up of public instruments is an important task of notaries that contributes to the functioning of our legal system. In the next article, we will explain what it means for notaries to act impartially and objectively and what benefits this brings.