On July 1 last year, the law was passed, stripping state agencies of their monopoly in conducting notary services.
However, many individuals in Hanoi and HCMC are still finding it difficult to start their own notary offices as they cannot gain appropriate licenses from local legislative offices.
Tran Cong Truc, former chairman of the Government Border Commission, said he was in the process of opening an office in Hanoi.
Everything from infrastructure to employees was ready but he still lacked an office license.
“I cannot imagine opening a notary office would be so difficult,” Truc said.
“Maybe the city authorities don’t want to share the pie with private notaries.”
Hanoi Justice Department submitted a project to develop private notary offices several months ago but the municipal People’s Committee hasn’t greenlighted the plan.
The project highlighted that private notary offices were necessary because the current quantity of public offices fails to meet thedemands of the city.
Pham Thanh Cao, an official from Hanoi Justice Department, said notary demands would increase dramatically as the city is a center for trade, commerce and other civil transactions.
The situation in HCMC is similar to that seen in the northern capital.
Former city official Pham Xuan Tho said 20 people were awaiting permission from the municipal People’s Committee to open their notary offices.
According to him, the committee said they had to consider the matter so that private and public offices would not perform overlapping tasks.
“But I think [the fear of unhealthy competition] is unreasonable as the public and private sectors will support each other,” said Tho.
Hoang The Lien, Deputy Minister of Justice, said he thought the project to open more private notary offices was a good idea.
These offices could generate competition with public offices for better services and citizens would benefit from it.
It’s strange that such an idea has not been put into practice for more than a year, but since it is backed by the law, it would be universally applied sooner or later, Lien said.
Reported by Tuyet Nhung |
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