Issuance of Decisions Concerning the Appointment of a Notary and Location of a Notary's office in the Light of Underspecified Notions. Reflections on the Discretion of an Authority

Abstract

The issuance of decisions by the Minister of Justice concerning the appointment of a notary and location of a notary's office is associated with the presence of underspecified notions in the conditions stipulated by Art. 11 of the Notary Law (Journal of Laws [Dz. U.] as of 2008, No. 189, Item 1158 as amended). They give rise to ambiguity of the legal status of candidates for the office of notary. The presented study considers a situation in which a candidate for this office is to meet all requirements stipulated by Art. 11. Having reviewed the relevant jurisprudence and decisional practice, the Author indicates several contradictory issues. With regard to Art. 11, Item 6 of the Notary Law, the contradictions occur since a multitude of normative acts have to be interpreted jointly relating to labour law. It must be stressed that these norms should be interpreted in the light of frequently divergent viewpoints of jurisprudence and decisional practice. In conclusion, such a legal situation adversely affects the legal situation of a candidate as he or she has no certainty as to positive appraisal of their application.