Finnish Public Notary

The profession of public notary in Finland is regulated by law. A public notary in Finland can only be employed by local register offices or jurisdictional district offices. A public notary in Finland is a state official. Finnish public notaries do not fulfill this position full-time. Many public notaries in Finland are also employed as district registrars in local register offices in Finland.

Admission 

It is not very difficult for a candidate to become a public notary in Finland. In order to become a public notary in Finland, the main requirement is that the applicant has a master degree in law from a Finnish University, also known as “oikeustieteen kandidaatti”.

Activities

The profession of a public notary in Finland is quite different from the duties of a public notary in other European countries or in the United States.  Since contracts in civil matters are not very complicated and do not require a legal validation, the validation of a public notary in Finland is not mandatory when a contract is signed between the parties. However, contracts that regard real property do need legalization from a public notary in Finland. The activities of a public notary in Finland are usually the notarisation of signatures and copies of certificates. They might authenticate as well several documents such as curriculum vitae. Finnish public notaries also certify Apostille Certificates confirming the position of a person stated in the document or the authority of that individual. Nevertheless, this Apostille Certificates issued by Finnish public notaries are valid in all states that are part of the Hague Apostille Convention.

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