“Democratia Acasa” asks removing monopoly in notarial field

The Movement “Democratia Acasa” (“Democracy at Home”) demands that the monopoly in the notarial field be eliminated. Such a call was made by the Movement’s leader Vasile Costiuc to Parliament in a news conference on March 25, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Movement calls on the MPs to withdraw a bill on notarial activity from the agenda. According to Vasile Costiuc, the bill is anticonstitutional and encourages the monopoly of a limited group of influential persons on the national notarial market. The Movement’s leader said the given bill amends one article and is designed to block the transfer of notaries from districts to Chisinau, Balti and other important centers so that the notaries in the capital city will not face competition. “There are 274 public notaries in the country. Of them, 131 are in Chisinau, where they make most of the money. This bill is aimed at protecting the interests of these notaries,” Vasile Costiuc said. He also said that under the European standards and taking into account the size of the population, Moldova needs at least 550 notaries. Furthermore, if new licenses are issued, the young specialists in the field will be provided with over 270 new workplaces and they can replace the older notaries whose efficiency is doubted. Vasile Costiuc stated that the Licensing Commission, which issues licenses to notaries, consists of 11 persons, six of whom are notaries. Thus, the Commission can easily block any initiative of the Ministry of Justice aimed at filling the vacancies for notary. The leader of “Democratia Acasa” stressed that since 2007 until last yearend, the Commission issued no new notary license. Vasile Costiuc asked that the lawmakers send back the bill to the relevant commission and order drafting a set of bills in the field, which would be aimed at liberalizing the notarial market in Moldova and at adjusting the national legislation to the international standards.