The Development of Notary as Free Legal Profession in Kosovo

Background: This paper analyses the role of notaries in Kosovo, individuals authorised by the state to draft, solemnise, and legalise legal civil documents. Today, notary services are performed by qualified lawyers who meet state-set criteria and pass a professional exam to practice as independent professionals. The experiences in the world show that notaries contribute to the relieving and efficiency of courts and administrative bodies, thereby expediting legal processes and safeguarding the rights and interests of natural and legal persons. The notary is a public service exercised by authorised persons licensed by the state to fulfil the requests of legal and natural persons through the preparation of notarial acts. In the Republic of Kosovo, notaries are also registered as individual businesses with the Business Registration Agency. During the preparation of these acts, notaries are expected to have high personal and professional integrity, directly impacting the fulfilment of the citizens’ requests with high efficiency and professionalism. In terms of how it is organised and operated, the notary service is very complex in the eyes of the citizens and within the justice system itself. To increase confidence, the Kosovo Chamber of Notaries has identified the development of the notary as a permanent process of modernisation and harmonisation of notary services with the evolving needs of legal and natural persons receiving such services. This strategic focus ensures the effective protection of legal interests and promotes legal certainty. Methods: In the present research, we employed the qualitative method, commonly utilised in the social sciences. Our study uses a combination of literature review and analysis approaches in conjunction with normative, comparative, and historical methods. We analyse the legal treatment that the Kosovo notary system has received from the legislative and academic literature and examine the system's benefits and drawbacks. This approach, which compares the notary system to the one used by the Kosovo courts before 2011, assists in defining the purpose, significance, and status of the notary system in Kosovo. Using the comparison method, we identify the common and distinctive elements of the notarial system in Kosovo as well as the directions for its development under international standards, giving a clear overview of its place, role, and importance of the notarial system in Kosovo. Based on the legal analysis, we highlight the changes in the interior of legal relations, which were previously the responsibility of administrative bodies and courts but are now the responsibility of notaries. Results and Conclusions: The existing normative framework provides a good basis for information on the work of notaries and the Chamber of Notaries. However, an even greater contribution should be made to better inform citizens about the functioning of the notary system, which is crucial for strengthening public confidence in the Notary.