Notary tariff: Problems of ensuring constitutional balance in determining parameters

Abstract

The article analyzes the problems of determining the procedure for financing notarial activities in the context of the constitutional requirement to achieve a balance between private and public interests. Turning to the historical and legal key to the development of approaches concerning the formation of the cost of notarial actions, the authors see the purpose of the formal revision of the regulatory rules as for establishing notarial tariffs only to support the
approaches to determining the level of relevant fees that have already been established within the framework of the previous regulation. In this regard, the article notes the urgent need for a conceptual revision of approaches to building a system of self-financing of notarial activities. Without denying the admissibility of the participation of notarial bodies in determining its
parameters, the authors, based on the nature of the notarial tariff, focus on the need for effective state supervision of its economic feasibility. At the same time, following the approach of bringing the formation of payment for notarial actions in any part to the subordinate level strengthens the requirements for ensuring economic proof of its size. Ultimately, we are talking about aiming to achieve a constitutional balance between the level of organization of notarial
activity expected at the corresponding stage of development of society and the solvency of persons forced to apply for the performance of notarial acts. The article notes that the currently
proposed system demonstrates at the regional level both significant deviations from the maximum tariff amount and significant differences in determining the procedure for calculating the regional tariff for a specific notarial act, although the objective reasons for this are not
obvious. This demonstrates the need to analyze the relevant deviations from the standpoint of ensuring the principle of equality, which implies, among other things, differentiation of the tariff size based on constitutionally justified criteria.

Keywords:

notarial activity, nature of notarial tariff, regional notarial tariff, tariff establishment procedure, validity of notarial tariff, Ministry of Justice of the RF, Federal Notarial Chamber