Aspects of the liability of notaries public in Malta.

Abstract

The following dissertation proposes to be an examination of the liability notaries public may incur. I shall be tackling the extent of liability by examining some of the responsibilities of such a profession. I shall be examining some aspects of the Notarial Law and the Civil Code and other relevant legislation together with the few local cases on the subject in order to try to establish the responsibilities and therefore the extent of the liability of notaries public in Malta. I shall be doing this against the backdrop of Italian doctrine and jurisprudence which may be of help whenever our law is nebulous. Inprimis, I shall give an outline of the role of the notary as a public officer and as a liberal professional and shall examine briefly the four types of responsibility of the notary, that is the criminal, civil, fiscal and disciplinary responsibility, with special emphasis on civil responsibility. I shall proceed by evaluating the professional diligence that a notary must exercise in the performance of his duties together with a discussion on his duty to draw up a public deed which is formally valid and in conformity with the law.