Lawmakers raised concerns over the supervision of the city’s private notaries if more lawyers will be able to acquire a private notary licence after a government-initiated bill regulating the profession becomes law, the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee President Kwan Tsui Hang said on Tuesday.
The legislature last month passed the outline of the bill, the main aim of which is to improve the quality of private notaries and increase their number. The bill proposes that lawyers will only be able to enrol in training courses to become private notaries after having worked in their profession in the city for at least five consecutive years.
Kwan said the lawmakers agreed with the proposed requirement needed to be a private notary, adding that several members of the committee, however, raised concerns over the supervision of the private notaries if their number increases.
“Currently, there are 57 private notaries… but there is only one public notary to oversee them,” Kwan, the vice chairwoman of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, said.
Kwan also said the lawmakers had urged the government to consider how to ensure the proper supervision of private notaries if their number is rising.
Kwan also said there are three public notaries in Macau, while four bureau directors could also work as public notaries.
Apart from private notaries, the government is running three public notary offices, two in the peninsula and one in Taipa.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
