Thirteen (13) new private notaries were sworn in before His Excellency Counselor Yousef Saeed Alabri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), to assume their duties under Law No. 11 of 2017 on Notaries in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and Decision No. 38 of 2017 of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-President of the UAE, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, approving the regulations governing the private notary and the regime of government agency employees authorised to practice as notary public.

H.E. Counselor Yousef Alabri explained that the licensing of the fifth batch of private notaries to work in law firms authorised to perform the functions of notary public, is driven by the objective of supporting the ease of doing business in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi so as to consolidate its competitive position globally, in addition to boosting the efforts to support the emiratisation rates in the private sector and providing new employment opportunities for young Emiratis.

He explained that allowing the practice of the private notary profession through law firms provides various options for customers to complete legal transactions, and enhances the competitiveness within the business environment among service providers, especially with the existence of a technological infrastructure and modern technologies that ensure easy access to the services of the Judicial Department, which in turn reflects on the quality of performance and keeps pace with the rapid developments in the economic sectors in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The Judicial Department attaches great importance to the training and qualification of UAE nationals by providing them with the necessary career guidance programmes, direct technical support as well as training and development through specialised qualification programmes at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Academy (ADJA), Alabri said. This brings to 80 the total number of professionals licensed to practice as private notaries upon completion of the training programme, he said, adding that these notaries are spread across several branches of law firms in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, he added.

The Undersecretary of the ADJD pointed out that the training programmes for candidates to the profession of notary focus on providing them with the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to perform their duties with a high degree of accuracy in accordance with the prescribed rules and standards, as well as acquiring the relevant jurisprudential and legal aspects, and document editing skills, allowing them to correctly apply the law when notarising documents.