Notaries from around the world gathered in Belgrade, Serbia, over the past week. The International Union of Notaries (UINL) held a four-day conference at the Sava Center, hosting institutional meetings (Commissions, Working groups, Steering Committee, General Council) of over 180 notaries from 54 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, South, and North America.

The President of the International Union of Notaries, Lionel Galliez, opened the meetings of the UINL General Council on Friday May 10, attended by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, Maja Popović.

Two interesting round-table discussions followed, on two topics of importance for the notarial profession:

- Under the moderation of Dutch Professor Birgit Snijder-Kuipers, notaries from Mexico, Japan, Spain, Benin, Croatia and Serbia, presented their competences in corporate law, and showed how they provide "a security for the State, and an advantage for the economy".

- Under the moderation of the Belgian notary Alain Deliège, notaries from China, France, Senegal and Serbia demonstrated how notarial insurance systems are "a security for citizens and a strength for the profession".

During these meetings, President Galliez also presented an exclusive first version of the future international code of notaries.

"We are working on drafting an international code that will provide a framework for all UINL member countries. This goes far beyond a simple ethical code. The first part relates to the status of notaries and criteria for selection, while the second part concerns the notarial instrument - what it should contain and the standards to be valid as authentic acts. The third part of the code will address all possible areas of notarial competences: family law, real-estate transactions, successions, commercial law, corporate law, person, etc."

Read the interviews with President Galliez in the Serbian press:

- National notarial chamber Website

- Politika

Watch the interview of President Galliez on the national channel RTS1