The Ministry of Justice has warned the public against seeking services from private notaries without verifying whether they are accredited for the practice.
The Ministry said informs people seeking services from private notaries can verify on a notary's accreditation by visiting its website www.minijust.gov.rw the page of "publications" to check the list of private notaries if they are permitted to operate.
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The public has also been advised to ask the private notary to present their service cards which are issued by the ministry of justice, reads an announcement signed by Theophile Mbonera, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice.
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The announcement came less than two weeks after a private notary was arrested along with two people after they were suspected participating in fraudulent land transfers, which were done without the knowledge of rightful property owners.
The public should avoid requesting private notaries to provide services, which they are not accredited for.
Whoever connives with the private notary in such a way will be prosecuted for conspiracy, Mbonera said.
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People seeking services from private notaries have been advised to get information from the Ministry of Justice via 3936, a toll-free number.
A private notary who infringes professional ethics is liable to a sanction according to a 2023 ministerial order.
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A private notary is sanctioned by dismissal for failure to have any known office and a bank account on which the payments of his or her services are made or other controllable payment modalities.
If a private notary gives, demands, or accepts a bribe, they are also dismissed.
Using any method or attitude likely to adversely undermine the honour and dignity of the office of notary, using fraudulent practices to be a private notary, non-compliance with laws in the exercise of his or her activities also leads to dismissal.
The requirements for whoever wishes to be a private notary include being a Rwandan national, being at least 18 years of age, holding at least a bachelor’s degree in law or its equivalent, not having been definitively sentenced to a term of imprisonment equal to or exceeding six months, unless such a conviction has been expunged as a result of amnesty or rehabilitation.
The requirements also include not having been removed from office within the public service or private sector because of disciplinary breaches unless the person has been rehabilitated, years of professional experience in the field of law in addition to being a person of integrity.