New Bill to allow private notaries to operate

Private notaries will be allowed to operate if a new Bill determining the organisation and role of the public notary is enacted into law.Justice minister Johnston Busingye presented the Bill to Parliament on Monday.The objective, according to the ministry, is in part to fill a void since there is currently no law governing such services and to improve service delivery.The draft law also provides that an Order of the Minister of Justice may grant to non civil servants the right to exercise the same services.Solving problems According to Jean Pierre Kayitare, the assistant Attorney General in charge of Legislation Drafting Services at the Ministry of Justice, the Bill is in light of the fact that notaries have heavy workloads“When we have both public and private notaries operating, the problem of heavy workloads and quick service delivery will be solved,” he explained.Busingye told MPs that the Bill aims to ensure efficient and quick services. “In the absence of a notary from work in their territorial jurisdiction for some reason, people in that jurisdiction would not receive notary services because the notary had no substitute,” he said.Countrywide, there are 439 public notaries – 405 in sectors, 30 in districts, two at the Ministry of Justice and, one each, at Rwanda Development Board and another at the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA).Each sector and district office has only one.In addition, the Bill offers competence to ambassadors and consulates to serve as notaries.

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New Bill to allow private notaries to operate