Minister of Justice of Lithuania Attending the International Conference Approves Notaries as a Guarantee of the State’s Legitimacy
08 November 2013, BNS
Minister of Justice of Lithuania Attending the International Conference Approves Notaries as a Guarantee of the State’s Legitimacy
Vilnius, 8 November (Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries). Documents, attested by notaries, guarantee a stability and legitimacy of the state’s civil turnover, stated Ministry of Justice of Lithuania Juozas Bernatonis attending the international conference when talking about a role of notaries in ensuring safety of the state’s finances. Meeting in Vilnius on Friday, representatives of notaries from the European Union together with the Eastern neighboring countries discussed a role of a notary in ensuring safety of the state’s finances and real estate transfer by preventing money laundering and guaranteeing legal civil matters. The conference „Notariat – means to guarantee safety of the state’s finances“ was attended by the representatives of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union, International Union of Notariat, German, Belgium, Dutch, Switzerland, Polish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Byelorussian, and Azerbaijan notariat and other legal institutions. “I am greatly pleased that this conference is organized during the period Lithuania is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time in history. I would like to highlight that during the Lithuanian presidency of the Council of the European Union attention is focused on three main points – development of reliable, growing and open Europe. Subject of the present conference is highly relevant, as clearly regulated and effectively operating notariat can directly contribute to a promotion of Europe’s economic growth and protection of financial interests of Europeans”, - stated the Minister of Justice J. Bernatonis. According to the minister, “safety of the state‘s finances is one of the priority tasks of the Government, and notaries play a significant part in its implementation”, and it is highly significant during the present period when Lithuania seeks to introduce Euro and become a member of the Euro Zone. “Notary performs functions as specified in laws, ensuring prevention of illegal transactions and documents in civil matters. Today notarially attested document is one of the most significant guarantees of stability and legitimacy of the state’s civil turnover”, - noted J. Bernatonis.
The president of the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries, administrator of Klaipeda City 1st Notary Office, the notary Marius Strackaitis presenting his report noted that a System of Latin Notariat, being successfully implemented in 86 countries of the world including Lithuania, guarantees safety of the real estate transfer, legal civil matters, prevents money laundering, questionable interests, thus ensuring safety of finances not only of ordinary people, but of the state as well. M. Strackaitis drew attention of people attending the conference regarding a point that limitation of cash turnover protects financial interests of people as well as the state. “It would be wise to refer to experience of the Western Europe countries gained and tested throughout decades. I encourage to legitimize money transfer operations via a notary‘s deposit account as a single legal way of payment for real estate”, - stated M. Strackaitis. According to him, such action would prevent legalization of illegally obtained money and would better protect interests of agreement parties. The conference was organized as a part of events held for the Lithuanian presidency of the Council of the European Union in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. Reports during the conference were read by legal scholars working in the field of a notariat – a professor of Harvard law school in USA Peter L. Murray, an academician prof. habil.dr. Vytautas Nekrosius working at the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University, members of the notariat – chairman of the International Notarial Cooperation Commission of the International Union of Notariat, a Switzerland notary Michel Merlotti, vice-president of the Commission of European Affairs of the International Union of Notariat, a Dutch notary Maarten Meijer, vice-president of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union, a Belgium‘s notary Andre Michielsen, vice-president of the Federal Chamber of German Notaries, president of the Koblenz Chamber of Notaries, Richard Bock, and other foreign notaries.
During the conference a special attention was also focused on activities of Lithuanian notaries in the field of financial crimes and prevention of money laundering. Reports were presented by representatives of the State Tax Inspectorate, Prosecution Service, and Financial Crime Investigation Service.