It is essential to articulate the mission and underlying philosophy behind the establishment of notary public offices in Iran. Subsequently, I will delineate the scope of activities undertaken in my capacity as a former associate notary officer.
A. Mission and Philosophy of Notary Public Offices in Iran:
Notary public offices serve as public and non-governmental institutions, acting as intermediaries between the government and various entities, including banks, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and individuals. Their primary responsibility lies in registering and regulating economic and service-related documents and contracts, thereby providing essential registration services in accordance with the country's laws and regulations. With their comprehensive understanding of legal and registration norms, these offices play a pivotal role in facilitating financial and commercial transactions between governmental bodies, financial institutions, banks, and individuals, ensuring that documents and contracts drafted by them are legally binding and guaranteed across all governmental agencies.
Given the overarching mission and significance of notary public offices, the following outlines some of their key activities:
Establishing structured communication channels with core governmental institutions, such as the Registration of Deeds and Properties, Civil Registration Organization, Company Registration Offices, Tax Affairs Organization, Social Security Organization, municipalities, and legal medicine organizations, to acquire pertinent information and assistance necessary for drafting facilitating contracts between parties in transactions.
Utilizing their extensive information resources, notary offices verify and authenticate all inquiries pertaining to financial and economic contract securities. This includes verifying ownership, absence of property encumbrances, lack of owner prohibition, confirmation of the owner's status, as well as inquiries from legal medicine organizations regarding individuals' physical and mental health. Additionally, they obtain insights into companies' activities and bankruptcy status through official publications and retrieve account balances from the Social Security Organization and municipalities to ensure the absence of debts resulting from their operations and obligations.
Drafting economic contracts with financial institutions and banks concerning both movable and immovable properties, issuing documentary credits, providing foreign and domestic guarantee letters, drafting civil participation agreements, installment sales contracts, rent-to-own agreements, issuing executive orders and warnings to clients, and assessing the creditworthiness of guarantors are among the other crucial activities undertaken by these offices.
Given their pivotal role and underlying principles, both the head notary and the first associate notary officer, as the official deputy, must possess a comprehensive understanding of all laws and regulations governing their operations. They are held fully accountable for executing all activities accurately and are expected to address any shortcomings in the process.