Guidelines on strengthening gender equality in notarial practices – South East Europe

In their transition from state-run to free market economies, all the countries of the Western Balkans have opted for an economic model that seeks to ensure a fair and equal access of all citizens to the benefits of the free market. Their legal systems rely on the precautionary principle, i.e. the conviction that the preventive control of essential economic transactions is preferable to a laissez-faire approach which tends to lead to costly and time-consuming private litigation to police the observance of market rules ex-post. In all the countries of the Western Balkans, notaries are public officers who advise parties and confer authenticity to deeds in some of the most important areas of the law, in particular real-estate law, family law inheritance law and company law. As a general rule, notarial deeds are an essential requirement for the registration of property rights in public registers. Notaries are devoted to creating the highest possible level of legal certainty and to enabling parties to make well-informed and prudent decisions in sensitive legal matters. They ensure that all legal rules are observed, and it is their duty to offer special advice and protection to weaker parties, including women.