the Italian notary public: the "notaio"
There are some important differences to keep in mind between the common law notary public and the civil law notary public. The Italian notary is not a common law notary public but a civil law notary public, as are most of the notaries in Europe. They authenticate and attest acts and are appointed by the Italian State. This is because Italian notaries ("notai") act as public officers with jurisdiction over voluntary private law. They normally specialise in some particular legal areas:
- Italian conveyances
- Italian property law
- Italian family law
- Italian corporate law
- Italian successions
Moreover Italian notaries also provide legal consultancy regarding contractual obligations. A very important matter: under the Italian law they must provide impartial and independent advise to the parties.
As you can see, there are certain differences between European notaries (civil law notaries) and common law notaries (public notaries).
