ІСТОРІЯ ФОРМУВАННЯ НОТАРІАЛЬНИХ ОКРУГІВ У НЕЗАЛЕЖНІЙ УКРАЇНІ

Abstract

The article covers the history of the notarial districts formation in Ukraine. The subject matter of the study is the retrospective of notarial districts formation in Ukraine as well as the development of the grounded proposals for respective legislation improvement. The methodological basis of the study were general scientific (analysis, comparison and modelling) and special (formal and logical) methods of cognition. The notary territorial competence influence on the formation of notarial districts is considered. The author has proved that the notary territorial competence in the context of national legislation is understood as the basis for the notary districts formation. The research suggests the analysis of 4 stages of notary formation and development in Ukraine: early years of independence, establishment of the maximum number of notaries, the years of uncertainty and the current stage, characterized by changes due to administrative-territorial and digital reforms. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that during the early years of independence the legislation, considering the notary territorial competence, was poor, while state intervention into the process of notarial districts allocation was really high. The regulation of the maximum number of notaries and notarial quotas as the legal problem that does not meet today's challenges is revealed. Legislative drafts aiming at regulating the number of notaries and restricting such state intervention in notarial activity have been analysed. The present regulation of the notary territorial competence, as well as legislative updates, considering the administrative-territorial reforms in Ukraine, are studied. The attention is also paid to the administrative-territorial structure as a basis for the allocation of the notary territorial competence. The main concepts of forming the list of notarial districts by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine are outlined; moreover, their pros and cons are highlighted. The governmental plans to digitalize the state services in terms of launching electronic notaries for remote notarial acts are mentioned. The offer to improve the principles of notary districts system in order to increase the availability of notarial acts to the population is given (driven by the examples of regional notary districts in Kyiv and Sevastopol aiming at providing remote notarial acts). Taking into account the Constitutional provisions, the need to consolidate the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine authorities is justified in context of approving the list of notarial districts in the Law of Ukraine "On Notaries". Keywords: territorial competence of a notary, maximum number of notaries, administrative-territorial structure, administrative-territorial unit, quotas of notaries, availability of notarial acts