Careers

Notaries

A NOTARY (NOTAIRE)

• A Notary is an official who serves as an impartial witness to those signing documents and is a member of the Association of Notaries.

They perform various duties including:
I) Witnessing signatures,
2)identifying fraud
3) and administering oaths.

• Some Notaries are self-employed, while others are employed in professions where notary skills are helpful.
• In Property Acquisition, a Notary’s intervention is required and it is, therefore, a necessary step to buy a house, land, apartment or any property right (usufruct, leasehold rights, or through a corporation).
• Further, the Notary is appointed by the State to collect the land transfer tax, registration duty and various stamp duties, and remit them to the Registrar-General’s Department – Conservator of Mortgages on registration of a deed of sale.
• Notaries have a duty to advise their clients. They will first explain to both the seller and buyer the implications of the provisions of the contract that they are about to sign (this is called the “reading” of the deed), and ensure that they understand the extent of their commitments.
• The Notary also has a duty to ensure the effectiveness of the deeds. In the case of a sale, they verify that the seller effectively has a property right that can be freely transferred to the buyer. Among other things, Notaries will make sure that there is no mortgage (or fixed and floating charges) on the property for sale.

Law Practitioners Vocational Course (LPVC)

To qualify as a Notary in Mauritius, you must complete the LPVC.

COUNCIL FOR VOCATIONAL LEGAL EDUCATION

INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTARIES’ EXAMINATION, 2022

(1) The Examinations will consist of SIX written papers.

The written papers will all be for three (3) hours each and will be on the following subjects:

• PAPER I – FAMILY LAW
• PAPER-II- LAW OF IMMOVEABLE PROPERTY
• PAPER III – RESPONSABILITÉ NOTARIALE AND TENUE DE L’OFFICE NOTARIALE.
• PAPER IV- DRAFTING
• PAPER V- REVENUE AND TAXATION LAWS
• PAPER VI- OPINION WRITING

(2) Candidates will be expected to deal with Ethical issues applicable to the relevant branches of the legal profession in any of the Papers.

(3) (i) In each of Papers I, II, III, and V, there will be FOUR questions to be answered out of SIX.

(ii) For Paper IV and VI, there will be FIVE questions out of which THREE must
be answered, and for Paper IV, the candidates are expected to draft a variety
of deeds.

(4) At the start of each written paper, candidates will be allowed ten minutes to study the
question paper before they start writing.

(5) Questions in all the SIX PAPERS may be in one or more PARTS and may contain
COMPULSORY questions.

(6) The total score for each paper is 100.

PASSING THE LAW PRACTITIONERS VOCATIONAL COURSE (LPVC) EXAMINATIONS

(1) To pass a paper, a candidate will score at least 50% of the marks.
However, to succeed in an examination, the candidate must score at least 60% of the aggregate marks in respect of the SIX PAPERS.

(2)The grades will be marked as follows:

• Grade A: 70% or more
• Grade B: 60% or more but less than 70%
• Grade C: 50% or more but less than 60%
• Grade D: 40% or more but less than 50%
• Grade E: Less than 40%

The percentage referred to here shall be a percentage of the total marks allotted in respect of a particular paper.

(3) Candidates scoring 80% or more of the aggregate marks in all the papers at the same sitting will obtain an Honours Certificate.

The other successful candidates who scored 60% or more of the aggregate marks but less then 80% will obtain a pass certificate.

(4) A candidate will be allowed to a resit in only two papers provided that they:-

(a) obtains the minimum overall percentage of 60%;
(b) secures at least 40% in the paper(s) and
(c) passes in the other papers.

If a candidate secures at least a pass (50%) in the papers in which they have been allowed a resit, they will be deemed to have passed the whole examination, failing which, they will be required to sit for the entire test.

(5) Subject to the payment of the prescribed fees, a candidate, who is allowed to resit a paper, shall resit the examination at such time as the Council may decide, except where the Council permits him to take their resit at the subsequent annual examination.

(6) A candidate may, within 15 days of the publication of the examination results and on payment of the prescribed fees, apply to the Secretary of the Council for a review of any examination paper.