The French Notary Public
The French notary public’s profession is governed by the Order of November 2nd, 1945 concerning the office of notaries public and the Decree of December 19th, 1945 implementing this order along with the amendments that have been made to it over time.
Article 1 states that « Notaries are public officers with the authority to receive any deed or contracts to which a party is obliged or wishes to confer the character of authenticity attached to acts of public authority, and to guarantee the date of their execution and conserve their records (…) ».
« A disinterested adviser, an impartial drafter, a kind of voluntary judge irrevocably binding contracting parties, this is the notary public and the notarial office is the institution within which they work.»
Counsel Réal, 1803