The words and phrases mentioned in this Regulation indicate the meanings specified in front of each of them:
Ministry: Ministry of Justice.
Public Notary: A governmental legal department with jurisdiction to authenticate contracts and admissions.
Public Notary: A qualified governmental employee appointed to the position of Public Notary or Head of Public Notary, responsible for authenticating contracts and admissions.
Referral: A memorandum directed from the Referral Office under the supervision of the President.
Clerk: Recording of legal and regulatory contracts and admissions in a specific volume called the Clerk's Volume.
Clerk's Volume: A sequentially numbered book in which contracts and admissions are recorded, signed by the parties and witnesses, and carries an infinite sequential number.
Clerk: The employee responsible for drafting everything recorded with the Public Notary in the Clerk's Volume and organizing documents and similar tasks, as well as performing all duties assigned by the Public Notary within the scope of the job.
Registration: Transferring the content of the organized documents literally after being recorded with the Public Notary and any annotations made in the register, done under an infinite sequential number.
Register: A sequentially numbered book in which documents and any literal changes made to them are recorded, carrying an infinite sequential number.
Registrar: The employee responsible for registering documents after their authentication and any changes made to them issued by the direct Public Notary or others authorized to act from a legal and regulatory perspective.
Document: The document that has completed its legal and regulatory procedures containing the content recorded with the Public Notary.
Document Number and Date: The number and date of its registration in the register, recorded at the top of the document including the division of the Public Notary.
Notarization: A set of procedures carried out by the Public Notary in his records and registers starting from the recording to the signing, sealing, and delivery of the document.
Annotation: An emergency procedure on the document or register or Clerk's book for transfer, mortgage, notarization, suspension, cancellation, modification, addition, etc.
Endorsement: Notation in the designated area of the document with the number of the Clerk's Volume and its page, the number of the register and its page, the delivery number, and the signature of the Clerk and the organizer.
Correction: An amendment arising from an oversight in what has been recorded or registered or organized, placed on the record or register or document, and positioned in front of its original location as much as possible, and given a number indicating its location.
Transfer: The transfer of ownership of the content of the document or part of it from one party to another.
Title: A document confirming ownership of a specific property, completing all legal and regulatory procedures issued by the competent court.
Partition: Dividing the content of the document into several parts according to the regulations governing it.
Merger: Combining two or more adjacent limited documents into one document.
Personal Seal: The personal seal of the Public Notary containing his officially recognized full name by the Ministry.
Official Seal: The seal approved for the Public Notary Department by the Ministry, containing the name of the Ministry, its logo, and the name of the Public Notary, used to seal records, registers, documents, and annotations.

• The Public Notary is responsible for the authentication of contracts and legal admissions, and issuing the documents related to them in accordance with the provisions of Sharia principles and applicable regulations, as well as what the Ministry assigns to it in the future unless a regulation or instructions specify an exception to any of them. Among these contracts and admissions that the Public Notary is responsible for authenticating are the following:-

  • A- Transfer of ownership of real estate.

  • B- Mortgages and their release.

  • C- Company contracts.

  • D- Receipt of amounts and compensations.

  • E- Acceptance of housing and agricultural grants.

  • F- Powers of attorney based on admission.

  • G- Revocation of the power of attorney or departing from it, whether by the agent or the client.

  • H- Wills or revocation thereof.

  • I- Waiver of amounts, properties, or nationality.

  • J- Bail and its release.

  • K- Division by mutual consent among adults.

The contracts and admissions that require proof, a ruling, an oath, the hearing of evidence, or the questioning or amendment, cannot be executed by the Public Notary.

• The Territorial Jurisdiction of the Public Notary regarding real estate is determined as follows:

  • A - The town is a territorial jurisdiction for the Public Notary located therein.

  • B - A town that does not have a Public Notary or a court performing the functions of a Public Notary follows the nearest Public Notary or court performing its functions in its area.

  • C - A town that is equidistant between two Public Notaries or between a Public Notary and a court performing its functions in the same area remains under its previous jurisdiction.

  • D - The considered proximity is the route usually taken by common means of transportation.

  • E - In case of dispute, the matter is raised to the ministry by the Public Notary that first asserted the jurisdiction for resolution.

The Public Notary is not authorized to document a contract or admission related to real estate that is outside of his territorial jurisdiction, except for the admission of a will concerning real estate, amicable partition, and the documentation of company contracts that include real estate assets, as well as any matters that the Minister of Justice may deem appropriate in the future. If he does so, his actions shall be disregarded, and he shall be held responsible for that. Anyone who presents a request for such an action must submit it to the Ministry of Justice along with a copy of the applicant's identification.

Notaries are administratively linked to the Ministry of Justice, and they are permitted to communicate directly with the relevant governmental authorities and anyone related to their jurisdiction as required by their work. As for matters that require direction, they must be elevated to the Ministry.

• The Public Notaries are structured as follows:

  • 1 - The Presidential Public Notary, which consists of three or more Public Notaries, one of whom is appointed as the President and has Office Division No. (1) and possesses the official seal. This individual is responsible for executing the tasks stipulated in Articles 185, 186, 187, 188, and 191 of the Law on Concentration of Responsibilities of the Judiciary. The second is an assistant, with Office Division No. (2), titled Assistant President of the Public Notary of the town in which he works, and he undertakes the duties of the President of the Public Notary during his absence. The third is under Division No. (3) and is called the Public Notary of the Public Notary of the town in which he works, and each office thereafter has a sequential number for the Public Notary.

  • 2 - The Public Notary where two Public Notaries work assigns one of them the tasks performed by the President in the Presidential Public Notary, with Office Division No. (1) under the title of Public Notary of the town in which he works and possesses the official seal, which he is responsible for safeguarding. The office of his colleague is Division No. (2) under the title of Public Notary of the Public Notary of the town in which he works, and he undertakes the duties of the Presidential Public Notary during his absence.

  • 3 - The Public Notary that has only one Public Notary, who performs all the tasks carried out by the President in the Presidential Public Notary, is titled Public Notary of the town in which he works.

Subject to the provisions of Article (252) of the Law of the Concentration of Responsibilities of the Judiciary and Article (94) of the Law of the Judiciary, the judge shall perform the duties of the public notary in a town where there is only one public notary in the event of their official leave, attendance at a training course, suspension, or absence for any other reason, unless a contrary decision is issued, provided that this is conducted in the records and registers of the public notary. The judge's assumption of the duties of the public notary in the aforementioned cases and others shall be based on an official mandate issued in this regard.

The Public Notary must exercise accuracy and verification, complete integrity, and discharge their duties in a manner that preserves the rights of their owners, while refraining from and rising above any actions that contradict the provisions of Sharia and its general rules, whether in procedure or conduct.

The work in the notary office is distributed among all notaries, including the President, through the referral office under his supervision, and no notary may take any action except through an official referral, provided that the record indicates the referral number and its date.