Profession of Notary – licence step by step

The activities of a notary primarily consist in drafting public documents on acts in law, certifying legally significant facts and declarations, providing legal assistance, drafting documents, managing assets and providing legal representation in that context.

Persons wanting to pursue the profession of notary must first be entered onto the list of notary trainees. Following completion of a traineeship, the applicant must pass the notarial examination in order to obtain the relevant certificate. This exam need not be taken by applicants who have passed the professional judicial examination, the judiciary examination, the unified judiciary examination, the unified judiciary and Bar examination, the prosecutors’ examination, the Bar examination, the licensed executors’ examination or a professional commercial lawyer exam. The same applies to the period of traineeship.

After the relevant exam has been passed, an application may be sent to the Czech Chamber of Notaries for inclusion onto the list of notary candidates. Whenever a notary position becomes vacant, a selection procedure is followed to fill the appointment. Once a candidate has been selected and the notary oath taken, he or she shall be allocated an official stamp and become a notary.

Procedure for obtaining authorisation:

  1. Application for inclusion onto the list of notary trainees
  2. Application to take the public notary exam
  3. Application for inclusion onto the list of notary candidates
  4. Application to participate in a notary selection procedure (Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic)
  5. A professional liability insurance policy must be taken out in the event of successful participation in the selection procedure
  6. The procedure concludes with the oath taken before the Minister of Justice, the allocation of an official stamp and appointment as a notary

Conditions for obtaining the licence and application requirements

1) Application for inclusion onto the list of notary trainees

  • The application shall be filed with the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic.
  • There is no form prescribed for the application. The application shall be supported with documents attesting to academic qualification, a contract of employment certifying that the applicant is employed by a notary, an extract from the Criminal Register and copy of the applicant’s ID document.

Upon the completion proceed to the next step

2) Application to take the notary exam

  • The application has no prescribed form or particular requirements.
  • The notarial examination shall be regarded as having been passed if the professional judicial examination, the judiciary examination, the unified judiciary examination, the unified judiciary and Bar examination, the prosecutors’ examination, the Bar examination, the licensed executors’ examination or a professional commercial lawyer examination has been successfully taken.
  • The application shall be filed with the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic.

IIssuance of the certificate

3) Application for inclusion onto the list of notary candidates

  • The application has no prescribed form or particular requirements. The application shall be supported with the notarial examination certificate or its equivalent.
  • The application shall be filed with the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic.

The chamber shall include the applicant onto the list within one week

4) Application to participate in a notary selection procedure (Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic)

Upon the completion proceed to the next step

5) A professional liability insurance policy must be taken out in the event of successful participation in the selection procedure

  • The policy may be obtained from various commercial entities; the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic operates a framework agreement with an insurance company and individual notaries may have their professional liability covered by signing up to the Agreement.

Upon the completion proceed to the next step

6) The procedure concludes with the oath taken before the Minister of Justice, the allocation of an official stamp and appointment as a notary

Upon the completion proceed to the next step

The business may be conducted after fulfilling all the above stated requirements.

Related information:

If you have any questions, you can contact Points of Single Contact (PSC) set up at 15 municipal trade licence offices in all regions. More information on PSCs.

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