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“According to the instructions of the Competition Council, the fees for notarial services will not decrease, but may increase,” the ministry announced.
According to her, a notary does not provide ordinary services, but implements the public functions of the state, which is why the Law of Notaries requires the Minister of Justice to set not only the fees for commercial services, but also the remuneration for the public services rendered. by a notary.
“The current regulation of the activity of notaries and the amounts of their remuneration allows access to notary services to all people (…). When approving the amounts of notaries’ remuneration, the Minister of Justice must follow the criteria that guarantee state and socially fair fees and are responsible for notarial services, ”the report indicates.
According to the ministry, waiving fixed minimum fees for notarial services can be more expensive. In addition, other countries do not modify the rates as proposed by the Competition Council, since they are aware of the negative consequences of such a decision.
Notaries: fine from the Competition Council for the ministry – unrelated to reality
Decision of the Competition Council 45 thousand. The Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries states that the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries has fined the Ministry of Justice for approving the fees of notaries, which is alien to legal reality.
The Competition Council has decided to sanction the Ministry of Justice which, together with the Ministry of Finance, has approved fixed and minimum rates, approving the notarial rates. The groundlessness of the Competition Council’s decision in a very similar case has already been established by a court once, ”said Marius Stračkaitis, chairman of the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries, a Klaipėda notary.
According to him, the city council analyzed the price list of notarial services for two years, since in June 2020 a substantially updated version of the fees for notarial services came into force approved by order of the Minister of Justice, based on the Law of the Notary.
“The decision of the Competition Council to punish the Ministry of Justice is similar to an ambitious revenge action, because from time to time similar accusations and a case before the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries about a poster invented by the competition guards are have collapsed in the courts. At that time, an investigation was launched against the Ministry of Justice at the expense of taxpayers, which, implementing the provisions of the Law on Notaries, together with the Ministry of Finance, regulates the activity of notaries through the setting of notary fees, ”said M. Stračkaitis.
“The strangest thing about this story is that the Competition Council was always aware of the regulation of notarial fees, it participated in working groups on notarial fees, but only now did it see the alleged problem that was always on its table”, added.
According to him, notaries perform the public functions of the state and can compete with each other only on the quality of services and not on prices. Therefore, the Notaries Law obliges the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance not to set fees for commercial services, but to pay for public services provided by a notary as a person authorized by the State.
The Competition Council announced on Tuesday that it has allocated 45,000. since it imposed a “floor” on the remuneration of notarial services that restricted its competence. The Council ordered the Ministry to rectify the violation of the Competition Law within six months.
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