Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh works with the French Supreme Council of Notaries

Accompanying the official visit to the French Republic to attend the 19th Francophone Summit from October 3-7, 2024 of General Secretary and President To Lam at the invitation of French President Emanuel Macron, in addition to participating in the official activities of the Delegation, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh had a number of bilateral activities in the French Republic.

Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh works with the French Supreme Council of Notaries – Photo: VGP/LS

On the afternoon of October 4, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh visited and worked with the French Supreme Council of Notaries. Welcoming Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh were Mr. Thierry Vachon, Secretary General of the French Supreme Council of Notaries, Mr. Willy Giacchino, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department. In addition, there was Mr. Jérome Fehrenbach, Secretary General of the International Union of Notaries.

At the reception, the French Supreme Council of Notaries expressed its pleasure in welcoming Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh to visit and work for the first time. Mr. Thierry Vachon, Secretary General of the Council, highly appreciated the cooperation between the two countries in the field of notarization from 1996 to present with many impressive results, and affirmed the indispensable important role of the notary profession in the market economy with the mission of ensuring legal safety for civil and economic transactions.

In addition, the Secretary General also briefly introduced the recent development trends of the notary profession in France, focusing on two key points. One is the trend of digital transformation of the notary profession starting in 2008 (France is the first country in the world to recognize the legal value of digital notarized documents).

Currently, the entire notary profession in France has digitized from the notary database to the implementation of electronic notarization and remote notarization. The second is the connection between the notary database and other databases such as the civil registration database or the land registry database. This allows notaries to look up the interconnected databases themselves to have the most complete and accurate information to serve the notary profession.

Delegates take souvenir photos after the meeting ends – Photo: Ministry of Justice

Thanking the French Supreme Council of Notaries as well as the French legal and judicial agencies for their goodwill and effective support for Vietnam in the field of notarization since 1996, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh shared that Vietnam is a dynamic economy with an economic scale in 2024 (according to IMF forecast) GDP ranking 34th in the world, with a scale of 466 billion USD. The more the economy develops, the more civil and economic transactions will increase, thereby creating more room for the notary profession to develop.

Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh said: The Party and State of Vietnam are currently vigorously implementing digital transformation. In the field of notarization, for the first time, electronic notarization is reflected in the draft revised Law on Notarization. In practice, the notarization database is in the process of being completed and is moving towards interconnection with other databases. Doing so will save costs for people and businesses, reform administration, and improve the investment and business environment. The Minister hopes that the French Supreme Council of Notaries as well as the International Union of Notaries will continue to accompany and support Vietnam in strengthening the digital transformation of the notary industry.

At the end of the meeting, both the International Union of Notaries and the French Supreme Council of Notaries reaffirmed their commitment to continue supporting Vietnam in developing the notary profession, focusing on the digital transformation of the notary industry. At the same time, the French side also hopes that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice will create favorable conditions for strengthening cooperation between the Vietnam Association of Notaries and the French Supreme Council of Notaries as well as actively participating as a member of the International Union of Notaries.

In order to have a more in-depth discussion on digital transformation in the notary industry, the French Supreme Council of Notaries wishes to coordinate with the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Vietnam Association of Notaries to organize an international conference in Vietnam in early 2025 on this topic.

Basically agreeing with the opinions of the International Union of Notaries and the French Supreme Council of Notaries, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh suggested that the French side pay more attention to promoting twinning relations on notary at the local level between the two countries, thereby ensuring that cooperation on notary between the two countries is implemented in a synchronous and comprehensive manner.

Source: Government Newspaper