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Chapter Law Content

Title: The Notary Act CH
Category: Judicial Yuan(司法院)
Chapter Three: Notarization
Article 70
Notaries shall not make notarial deeds in violation of laws or regulations, or notarize invalid juristic acts.
Article 71
When making notarial deeds, notaries shall inquire into the real intention of the parties and the truth of facts. The notaries shall explain the legal consequences of the deeds. When there is confusion, insufficiency, or obviously unfair conditions, notaries shall ask the parties to clarify, making further explanations or corrections.
Article 72
If the notaries are dubious regarding the legality of the notarial deed application or question the consistency between the applicants’ true intentions and the applicants’ expressions, the notaries shall explain their concerns to the applicants. If the applicants insist on the requested content, notaries shall make the notarial deeds per the applicants’ requests. However, they shall also indicate their concerns regarding above mentioned issues and the insistent requests of the applicants.
Article 73
When making notarial deeds, notaries shall require applicants to provide their National Identification Cards or other identification documents to verify their identities. If applicants are foreigners, they shall provide their passports, certificates issued by their countries’ embassies or counselor offices, or other identification documents.
Article 74
If applicants do not understand the Chinese language, or are deaf, mute, and cannot express their intentions with words, notaries shall require interpreters to enable communication between the notaries and applicants when making notarial deeds. However, the requirement of the interpreters’ attendance may be exempted, provided that applicants agree to allow notaries to interpret their meaning directly.
Article 75
If applicants are blind or illiterate, notaries shall request a witness to attend when making notarial deeds. However, applicants may waive their rights to require witnesses’ attendance. Notaries shall write down the waiver in the record.
Applicants without the situations mentioned in the preceding paragraph may also request the attendance of witnesses.
Article 76
When applicants have their agents apply for notarization, beyond being subject to the preceding three Articles, notaries shall require the agents to provide letters of authorization. When the specific act must have special authorization by law, agents shall provide documents indicating that they have that specific authorization.
If the letters of authorization mentioned in the preceding paragraph are private documents without attestation, certification shall be made by one of the following methods:
1. That the documents be certified by relevant governmental agencies;
2. That for private documents made in areas outside of the territory of the R.O.C., the documents be certified by the R.O.C.’s embassies, counselor offices, institutions authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the R.O.C., or other relevant organizations authorized by other authorities;
3. That for private documents made by foreigners or persons living outside the territory of the R.O.C., the documents shall be certified by their countries’ embassies or counsel offices stationed in the R.O.C., institutions authorized by their countries’ authorities, or organizations authorized by the competent authorities in those areas.
Letters of authorization attached with seals certification issued by the relevant authorities bears the same effect as the certification mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 77
When applicants apply for notarizing juristic acts that require the approval or consent of a third party, the applicants shall provide certifications that the third party’s approval or consent has been acquired.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis in the situation mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 78
Applicants or their agents should select their interpreters and witnesses. Interpreters may act as witnesses at the same time.
Notaries may select interpreters if applicants or their agents fail to select one.
Article 79
Persons listed in the following sub-paragraphs shall not act as witnesses for this Act. However, this restriction shall not apply in situations mentioned in paragraph 2 of Article 75:
1. Minors;
2. Persons who are subject to a guardianship or assistantship;
3. Persons who have a conflict of interests regarding the applied matters;
4. Persons who have acted as agents for the applied matters, or used to be agents for the applied matters;
5. Persons who are the spouse, lineal relatives by blood, or lineal relatives by marriage of the notary;
6. Clerks and assistants of the notaries.
Persons listed in sub-paragraphs 4 to 6 of the preceding paragraph may still act as witnesses if they acquire consent of all applicants.
Article 80
When making notarial deeds, notaries shall write down the statements listened to, the circumstances witnessed, and other facts they have actually experienced. The means and results of the experience shall also be stated in the notarial deeds.
Article 81
A notarial deed shall contain the following items:
1. The case number of the notarial deed;
2. The main purpose of the notarial deed;
3. The applicant’s name, gender, birthplace, date of birth, occupation, and the number of his/her identification cards or other identification documents, address of domicile or residence, and in case of juristic persons or other organizations, names and offices thereof;
4. If applications are made by agents, the record of the agent’s applications, the agent’s name, gender, birth place, date of birth, occupation, the number of the agent’s identification card, or other identification documents, address of domicile or residence, and the submission of letter of authorization;
5. The agreement and main purpose of direct enforceability of the notarial deed;
6. When the certification of third parties’ approvals or consents have been submitted, the third parties’ names, genders, birthplaces, dates of birth, occupations, and addresses of domicile or residence. If the third party is a juristic person or other organization, its name and office;
7. Any fact that there are interpreters or witnesses attending, and the names, genders, birth places, dates of birth, occupations, addresses of domicile or residence of the interpreters or witnesses;
8. The date and location of the making of the notarial deed.
Article 82
Notarial deeds shall be written in brief and clear words and sentences with neat and legible writing, and the lines of text shall be consecutive. If there is a blank space, an ink line or other method shall be infilled or used to indicate that there is a blank space.
When indicating numbers in dates or other contents in the column of main purpose of the notarial deeds, Chinese numerical characters shall be used. The dates of the making of notarial deeds shall also be written in Chinese numerical characters.
Article 83
Characters in notarial deeds shall not be erased or altered. If there is a need to add, delete or alter the characters, the notaries shall follow the requirement stated below:
1. The original text of the characters or sentences shall remain legible in order to be read clearly by others;
2. The number of the characters being added or deleted shall be indicated in the margin or the end space of the notarial deeds. The notaries, applicants or applicants’ agents shall sign or affix their seals thereon.
The correction shall not take effect if preceding requirements are violated.
Article 84
Notaries shall read the contents of the notarial deeds out to those who are present in the making. Notaries shall present the notarial deeds to applicants or their agents to inspect. After the applicants or their agents affirm the correctness of the notarial deeds, the notaries shall indicate the process of the affirmation in writing in the deed.
When there is an interpreter present, the notaries shall have the interpreter translate the notarial deed orally, and indicate the process of translation.
After the notaries have entered the above-mentioned statements, the notaries and other persons present shall all sign their names below the statements. If any person present is unable to sign, the notaries shall write down that person's name, request the person affix his/her seal, or press his/her fingerprint below the statement. The notaries shall indicate the situation and sign below.
If the notarial deeds consist of two or more sheets of paper, notaries, applicants or their agents, and witnesses shall affix their seals or fingerprints along the adjacent edges of the consecutive sheets, or use other methods to demonstrate the documents’ consecution. However, if the notarial deeds’ completeness can be proven, the validity of the notarial deeds remain unaffected, even if any of the above mentioned parties fails to affix their seals or press their fingerprints.
Article 85
If any other documents or other objects with equivalent effects to documents are referred and attached to the notarial deeds, the notaries, applicants or their agents shall affix their seals or fingerprints on the adjacent edges between the notarial deeds and consecutive attachments or use other methods to demonstrate the consecution of the notarial deeds and attachments.
The preceding three Articles shall apply mutatis mutandis to the attachments mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 86
Attachments mentioned in the preceding Article shall be deemed as part of the notarial deeds.
Article 87
Notaries shall file the notarial deeds together with the certificates of identity, power of representation, the approval or consent of third parties, and other ancillary documents into volumes and preserve them properly.
Notaries shall encode serial numbers by page on the volumes mentioned in the preceding paragraph. When applicants require the return of the original of the ancillary documents, the notaries may preserve transcriptions or photocopies instead of the original.
Article 88
When the notarial deeds are entirely or partially lost or destroyed, the notaries shall make attested transcriptions and preserve them as substitutes for the originals. The notary may utilize any of the following methods in producing a substitute. The notary may solicit authentic copies delivered by applicants; the notaries may make copies or photocopies that have been proved to be identical with the authentic copies; or, after obtaining the approval from the Chief Judge of the courts or branches where they registered, the notary may apply for the retrieval of the transcriptions or photocopies of the lost or destroyed notarial deeds.
The situation mentioned in the preceding paragraph and the date of the approval shall be indicated in the transcriptions that were made to substitute for the originals and signed by the notaries.
Article 89
Applicants, their successors, or other persons who have legal interests in the notarial deeds may request an inspection of documents collected in the files connected to the notarial deeds.
Article 73, 76 and 77 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the requests mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Applicants’ successors and other persons who have legal interests in the notarial deeds shall provide documents to prove their standing when making requests for inspection.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 76 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the documents mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 90
Notaries shall prepare the Journal of Notarial Acts of notarial deeds or other relevant books.
The Judicial Yuan shall determine the format of these journals and the contents that shall be recorded as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 91
Notaries may deliver authenticated copies of notarial deeds by their authority or per applicants’ or their successors’ requests.
Article 73, 76, 77, and paragraph 3 of Article 89, shall apply mutatis mutandis to the requests mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 92
Authenticated copies of notarial deeds shall contain the following particulars and be signed and sealed with official seals or the steel stamps of the notaries who make it:
1. The full text of the notarial deeds;
2. The indication as authenticated copies;
3. The name of the person who accepts the delivery of the authenticated copies; and
4. The dates and places of the making.
Documents made in violation of the preceding paragraph shall not have the effect as authenticated copies of notarial deeds.
Article 93
When notarial deeds enumerate several events or several persons share one notarial deed, each applicant or interested person may request the notaries excerpt the sections relevant to those applicants and make authentic copies of those sections for them.
In the authenticated copies mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the notaries must indicate that these are excerpted authenticated copies from the original notarial deeds.
Article 94
When notaries deliver the authenticate copies of the notarial deeds, they shall indicate the names of the persons who accept the authentic copies, the reasons for these requests, and dates, and the notaries shall sign at the end of the original copies of the notarial deeds.
Article 95
Applicants, their successors, or other persons, who have legal interests in the notarial deeds, may request the delivery of transcriptions, photocopies, or excerpt copies of the notarial deeds or the ancillary documents.
Article 73, 76, 77, and paragraph 3 of Article 89 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the requests mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 96
Transcriptions, photocopies, or excerpt copies of notarial deeds or their ancillary documents shall contain the following particulars and be signed and sealed with official seals or steel stamps by the notaries:
1. The full text or an abridgment of the notarial deeds and their ancillary documents;
2. The indication as transcriptions, photo copies, or excerpt copies;
3. The dates and places of making .
Article 97
If authenticate copies of notarial deeds or transcriptions, photocopies, or excerpt copies of notarial deeds and ancillary documents contain more than one page, notaries shall affix impressions of their seals on the adjacent edges between sheets or use other methods to demonstrate the consecution of different pages.
Article 82 and 83 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the documents mentioned in the preceding Article.
Article 98
No one may apply for an inspection of a notarial will, nor may anyone apply for deliveries of authenticated copies, transcriptions, photocopies, or excerpt copies of a will except testators. However, testators may declare that their wills are open for inspection before or after their deaths.
Notaries shall make transcriptions of notarial wills within ten days of making the wills. The transcriptions shall be sealed in envelopes with indications of identification information of the testators and the dates of making on the envelopes’ covers with the notaries’ official seals. The notaries shall deliver the transcriptions to The National Confederated Notary Association for preservation.
If testators declare their willingness to open their wills for inspection according to paragraph 1, successors of the testators or other persons with legal interests on the notarial wills may request searches for the existence and inspection of the wills.
The preceding two paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to the notarization of other forms of wills.
Article 99
When notaries issue protests of negotiable instruments according to the Negotiable Instruments Act, Article 18, Articles 73 to 77, and Article 81 do not apply.