Civil law notary

Civil law notaries are usually limited to areas of private law — that law which resolves controversies between private individuals and involves minimal or no state intervention. The most common areas of practice for civil law notaries are in property conveyancing and registration, contract drafting, commercial transactions, successions and other estate related matters. They usually have no authority to appear before tribunals or courts on behalf of their clients; their role is limited to drafting, authenticating, and archiving certain types of important transactional documents. In some jurisdictions such as France or Italy, they also maintain the official registration of property records, en minute (in minute form).

When a civil law notary authenticates a document, the result (in nearly all jurisdictions that recognize their powers) is a nearly conclusive presumption that the document is a true record of the facts asserted or recorded within. A contesting party bears the burden of bringing a collateral attack upon the validity of the document, and must prove the invalidity of the document by clear and convincing evidence.