Le système notarial de la Louisiane au XIXe siècle: profil et fonction des notaires

Abstract

By examining the evolution of the function of the public notary in nineteenth-century Louisiana, the present article study shows how the political authorities of that state, confronted with the influence of American legal traditions, developed an original civil law system. Beginning with an analysis of the development of the role and function of the public notary throughout the nineteenth-century, the article considers the process of selection of candidates, the legal training that was required, the need to keep notarial minutes, and the fees which legally could be charged for notarial services. Finally, it examines the social and economic status and the ethnic origins of public notaries in Louisiana. Two major conclusions emerge from this analysis. While under common law the public notary was a simple administrator of oaths, under the Louisiana civil law he was considered a public officer. Notaries were required to examine copies of deeds of sale, to check whether or not such contracts conformed to the law, to authenticate titles, to establish the legal authority of the contracting parties, to act as legal advisor for the various parties, to make rigorous transcriptions of their agreements, and to inform each party of their rights and of the legal consequences of the act they were about to sign. The public notary thus became an increasingly important component of the Louisiana civil law system as the century progressed. Moreover, because public notaries played a crucial role in maintaining in Louisiana a civil law system distinct from those of the other American states, they had a determining influence in the preservation of Louisiana’s particular cultural identity.