Notaries in Slovenia

In Slovenia, a notary (notar) is a public official appointed in the office by the Minister of Justice. A notary must be a Bachelor of Law graduate, has passed the state judicial examination and must have at least five years of work experience in the field. In order to ensure that his or her activity has the necessary independence, notaries operate within the framework of a liberal profession.
A slovenian notary shall advise and operate fully impartially and independently and shall play the role of trusted third party neutral between parties. He must also respect professional secrecy and is subject to a duty to confidentiality in correspondence and when conserving files and archiving instruments. 

The main duty stated by the Slovenian Notaries Act is the drawing up of public deeds: notarial records, notarial minutes and notarial certificates. A public deed drawn up by a notary proves the authenticity of its subject. Notaries are also authorised to draw up private deeds and represent clients in proceedings with natural and legal persons, with government or other bodies, in administration proceedings, in civil trials during proceedings related to a notarial deed drawn up by a notary. 

There are about 93 notaries in Slovenia, which are spread geographically throughout 51 cities on the slovenian territory. At least one notary is located in each county court area. Each district court area has at least one notary. In bigger cities, especially in the areas of district courts, there is at least one notary per twenty thousand citizens.

A notary is authorised to perform his  work on the entire territory of the Republic of Slovenia, which means any natural or legal person has the right to consult the notary of his or her choice. The exceptions are notarial records of legal operations for secured underlying assets or loans secured by a mortgage or land charge, which are under territorial jurisdiction of a notary located in the county court area in which the property in question is situated.