Day of those who make us owners
It finally happened – there is a professional holiday for those who certify transactions and documents, draw up wills and prepare affidavits and other statements for using abroad, legalize tenure and tenancy of land – Notary Day.
Can you hear how it sounds? No-ta-ry! Even this Latin word itself smells like wisdom! Although correctly (or rather, officially) the date is called Notarial profession Day. Yet, the reason why this holiday is celebrated on the second day of the first month of autumn is unknown. It is not clear what the then Minister of Justice Mykola Onishchuk and the head of the joint venture Vera Ulianchenko were guided by when they submitted the Decree “On Notarial profession Day” for approval to President Viktor Yushchenko, that ran as follows, “To establish a professional holiday in Ukraine – Notarial profession Day, which is celebrated annually on September 2”.
The document is dated February 22, 2010. It is notable for being considered one of the last decrees (if not the last) of Yushchenko as the Guarantor of the Constitution. Importantly: it is timed to a specific date, and not to Sunday, that is, it is a static date, which is a rare occurrence for professional holidays.
It is worth noting that this event was preceded by a long preparatory period.
Notaries did not always accept congratulations
In Soviet times, there were a minimum number of state notaries – one per city of regional subordination or per regional centre. Private property did not exist; there was only personal property just as deposits of the population in labour savings banks, individual homes and motorcar vehicles. Consequently, there was no need for a large army of notaries.
With the further breaking state structure, the situation changed. When the green light was given to privatization, the need for providing notarial services increased significantly. At the same time, the denationalization also affected the very sphere of notarial profession, so much so that soon private notary offices began to appear everywhere. As a result, there was a need for recognition of a separately formed new legal branch, with all that it entails. What is the industry without its own holiday?
Admittedly, there used to be an official rejection at the Cabinet of Ministers in this regard. Thus, on June 15, 2009, the Ministry of Justice made an official offer to the head of state to establish a separate holiday for notaries. And two years earlier, when the Notary Chamber of Ukraine did not even appear yet, a truly historic event took place. At the initiative of the country's notarial community, an initiative appeared to establish their own professional day. Its result was a solution, the implementation of which became possible only after several years.