The Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE)

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The Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE)

Définitions :

Instrument

A written document establishing an agreement between one or more people. There is a distinction between:

• Private instruments: instruments that co-contractors establish by their signature alone but which can easily be disputed because each party can deny having signed them.

• Authentic instrument: instruments drawn up and recorded by a person with public authority. The persons include the administrative authorities (ministers, prefects, mayors), legal authorities, registrars, public officers such as court officials, clerks of the court and notaires. The prerogatives of authentic instruments mean they are outside the scope of ordinary law. They are authentic in themselves (probative value) and may be executed without legal recognition (enforceability). In the field of private instruments, the notarised instrument is the main authentic instrument.

Order

A group of relatives that may claim a person’s inheritance. There are four orders:
1st order - direct descendants;
2nd order - brothers, sisters and parents;
3rd order – ascendants;
4th order - uncles and aunts or their descendants.

In theory, only the highest order inherits.

Seal

A stamp specifying representation of the French Republic and the name of the notaire. The stamp is applied to notarised instruments certifying that they originate from a public officer.

Will

A document in which a person decides on how his/her estate is to be settled.

Notaries operate in 21 of the 27 Member States of the European Union, representing more than 80% of the population of the EU.
The Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) is the umbrella organisation for the profession in Europe. Founded in 1993 and based in Brussels, the CNUE represents the civil law notary in its relations with the European institutions.

Commitments and initiatives of the European Notariats in building a Europe governed by the rule of law

The family, property and working lives of Europeans are taking on an increasingly European and global character where the need for legal certainty is of utmost importance.
The CNUE ensures ongoing monitoring of the needs and expectations of individuals and businesses in order to define its priorities and commitments and contribute to building a Europe governed by the rule of law that reflects the traditions of the Member States and ensures legal certainty, equal access to justice and improvement of the economic environment.

With this in mind, the Civil Law Notaries of Europe conduct the following initiatives :

Facilitating access to law by publishing multilingual legal fact-sheets and by participating in eJustice;
Promoting the free movement of authentic instruments so that an authentic instrument drafted in one State has the same legal status in all the countries of Europe, namely that of instruments drawn up by public authority issued under the seal of State.
Improving the protection of vulnerable persons in Europe.
Extending the European Network of Registers of Wills (Réseau Européen des Registres des Testaments - RERT) which links national files of wills throughout Europe to identify and locate the last will made by any European citizen as quickly as possible.
Making multilingual certificate forms available to citizens guaranteeing the information contained in certificates/extracts of public registers of companies and individual traders in order to facilitate the drafting of cross-border agreements.
Strengthening the European Notarial Network (ENN) in order to facilitate cooperation between European Civil Law Notaries and the European integration of the profession. Modernising the common code of ethics that harmonizes the rules of conduct between notaries from different countries in order to facilitate cross-border transactions.