Liability as an element of notary status

The paper studies liability as a structural element of the notary status. It describes the main types of notarial liability for notaries in private practice in the Russian Federation. The paper outlines different notarial liability procedures for public notaries employed by public notary offices and notaries in private practice. We emphasize the archaic nature of public notaries. For the definitions, the paper addresses the relationship between the disciplinary and professional liability of a notary. Notably, the Notarial Code of Conduct does not cover disciplinary liability and does not contain the concept of disciplinary liability and disciplinary offense; an effective disciplinary liability system, and formalized notarial liability for violation of the oath in the regulatory framework for notaries and notarial activities. Based on the analysis of regulatory and doctrinal sources, we provide a definition of a disciplinary offense, formulate and substantiate the proposals to improve the analyzed law, including the need for the adoption of the Federal Law On Notaries and Notarial Activity in the Russian Federation, which provides the grounds for disciplinary liability, the disciplinary liability procedure, and disciplinary sanctions for notaries in private practice and persons acting on their behalf.