On July 21, 2023, the first general meeting of the country's private notaries took place in Bishkek with the participation of about 340 delegates representing the professional notary community from all of Kyrgyz Republic’s regions.
The event was attended by deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, representatives of the Presidential Administration of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Bar, ministries and agencies, as well as staff from international organizations.
Over the course of the meeting, the Ministry of Justice presented information on the reform of the notary system and activities carried out in relation to the most important part of these reforms – the creation of the unified Notary Chamber, which will regulate the work of notaries across the country in terms of professional standards and ethics, as well as perform other important functions. At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed on the general principles of the Notary Chamber's work and elected the officials of its key bodies.
Justice Minister Ayaz Baetov stated:
"The formation of a unified Notary Chamber is an important step forward. The Ministry of Justice is ready to fully cooperate with the Chamber, to provide due assistance in the institution's establishment and development. Moreover, I want to make it clear - we will reduce the level of state presence in your work. At the same time, the Chamber will be involved in the processes of verification of the work of private notaries and the process of reviewing complaints, in the procedure of conducting examinations".
The event was supported by USAID’s Jigerduu Jarandar project. Director of the Program Office of USAID’s Mission to the Kyrgyz Republic Andrew Maybrook noted the importance of the Ministry of Justice's reform efforts to provide citizens with accessible legal services:
"The delegation of notary functions to the Notary Chamber demonstrates the Kyrgyz Government’s commitment to reaching people in the most remote areas of the country. USAID will continue supporting the reforms of the Ministry of Justice through technical expertise and developing educational materials for notaries," stated Andrew Maybrook.
For reference: Kyrgyzstan has 90 public and 340 private notaries (as of June 2023). 47% of them offer their services in Bishkek and 27% operate in Chui Region. In the other six regions, the number of public notaries per district ranges from one to three, depending on population. Due to the limited authority of private notaries compared to their public counterparts, certain notary services can only be obtained from public notaries. This uneven distribution creates a lack of convenient access to notary services for rural residents, which was one of the reasons for the radical reforms to the notary system.
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2023.07.21 20:28:00
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