Powers of a notary public in Serbian family law with comparative overview

Abstract

The institution of the notary public is not a novelty in the Republic of Serbia, having in mind that the normative regulation of this activity dates back to 1930 when the Public Notaries Act of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was enacted. However, there were several attempts and efforts to reintroduce this institution in the current Serbian legal system, but without success, until recently. Although the Public Notaries Act of the Republic of Serbia was adopted in 2011, its implementation has been delayed until September 2014 and has so far undergone several amendments. After re-establishing the jurisdiction of the notary public in the Serbian legal system, amendments to domestic family law legislation, in which the institution of notary public is incorporated, were followed by specifying its jurisdiction in family law. Therefore, the importance of the introduction and legal regulation of the institution of notary public is undeniable, given the number of novelties in terms of transferring jurisdiction from courts to notaries public, which should lead to greater procedural efficiency and which would certain procedures and formalities made easier. In this paper, the provisions on jurisdiction of the notary public in family law of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina will also be analysed.

Keywords

• notary public
• postnuptial agreement
• acknowledgment of paternity
• maintenance agreement
• solemnization