International Union of Notaries


The International Union of Notaries is a non-governmental organisation. It aims to promote, co-ordinate and develop the function and activities of notaries throughout the .

Aims

Formed by 19 countries at the time of its establishment in 1948, the organisation includes 87 countries as of 2018, of which 22 out of the 28 member countries of the European Union and 15 out of the 19 countries of the G20, thus showing the expansion of the European legal system. Today it is in place in almost 120 countries, totalling 2/3 of the world population and accounting for over 60% of world gross domestic product.
Directed by a steering committee formed by 28 councillors, the decision-making body is the General Meeting of member notariats where each country has one vote regardless of its importance. It also includes a General Council formed by 172 members and continental and intercontinental commissions working from the scientific, strategic, economic and sociological standpoints.

Presidency

The union elects a President of the union at General Assembly of member notariats, the institutional meeting of the International Union of Notaries, for three years term. To be eligible for election, a candidate must be a notary from one of the active member notariats.

Membership

Membership consists of notariats from civil law sovereign states or non-sovereign states. Quebec and London are members instead of Canada and United Kingdom because of the presence of notariats in these regions, something uncommon in common law states. In their line of work, they operation is similar to the continental European notaries. Lebanon and Belarus are the most recent members, joined in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Members include: