Current state of legal provision of notarial activity in Ukraine: theoretical and legal dimension

Abstract

The author analyzes the provisions of normative legal acts regulating notarial activity, on the basis of which the theoretical and legal regularities of the current state of legal support of notarial activity in Ukraine are established. It is noted that Ukraine's affiliation to the legal system of the Romano-Germanic type, and the system of notaries - to the notary of the Latin type testifies to the principle of its proper legal support, inadmissibility of gaps, conflicts in this area. Today, notarial activity is a legally regulated activity in Ukraine, which has developed evolutionarily, was formed under the influence of the above factors and is currently in a state of improvement and strengthening. However, constant changes in the legal support of notarial activities in Ukraine indicate the imperfection (or even lack) of clear scientifically sound conceptual approaches to the legal support of notarial activities.
 It is proved that the turning point in the formation of the legal support of notarial activity in Ukraine was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On Notaries" (1993), which laid the foundation for the development of the domestic system of notaries and notarial activities. This legislative act remains in force today, but its content has undergone significant changes, which is reflected in the legal support of notarial activities.
 Despite the lack of officially established conceptual documents that would relate to the development of legal support for notarial activities in Ukraine, the author tried to establish and summarize the actual state of such legal support on the basis of existing legal support, which is presented in the form of the following components: 1) objects of notarial activity; 2) legal consolidation of tasks assigned to the notary, which are defined as a range of responsibilities performed by the subjects of notarial activity; 3) consolidation of the legal status of the notary, within which the rights and obligations granted or assigned to the notary have been legally defined in order to ensure the performance of the tasks specified by law; 4) legal regulation of the procedural order of notarial activity, which is presented mainly at the secondary level; 5) legal consolidation of the organizational support of notarial activity concerning the rules of notarial record keeping, the activity of the High Qualification Commission of Notaries, the rules of ethical conduct of notaries, etc.
 It is concluded that the high level of variability of legal support of notarial activity in Ukraine is a consequence of the lack of a unified concept of development of legal support of the notary system and notarial activity in Ukraine.