Lithuanian Notary Practice in 1918–1940: Legal Regulation (text only in Lithuanian)

Abstract

Between the world wars, Lithuanian notary practice was based on the legal acts adopted from Russia, the Kingdom of Poland, and Germany. The most important was the Russian Notary Law of 1866, which was valid in the largest part of the Lithuanian territory. This law established the so-called approval system, in which the most important acts of the notary as indicated by civil law had to be approved by the senior notary, who worked under the supervision of the county court. In 1919, upon transferring this outdated system into the Lithuanian law practice, only a few provisions were corrected. In addition to the right to collect fees from customers, the notaries had a fixed state remuneration established for them. The provisions for material liability of the notaries were abolished. This withdrawal from the so-called Latin model of notary practice was corrected by the changes to the Notary Law of 1932, which declared notaries as “civil servants without wages”. Thus, starting 1932, payments from the state have been discontinued while more regulation was enforced regarding the daily activities of notaries (e.g. notaries were required to work at least six office hours). Furthermore, the provisions on material liability were revived.