A very successful series of lectures and seminars organised by the Worshipful Company of Scriveners took place during June and July 2011. The following lectures were presented by guest speakers:
Tuesday 21st June: Professor István Várga,Professor of Law, Head of the Department of Civil Procedure at ELTE Faculty of Law Budapest: “The new generation of European civil procedural instruments”;
Thursday 30th June: Dr Jonathan Fitchen, Lecturer at the School of Law of the University of Aberdeen: “Recent developments in EU Private International Law and prospects for future change, with particular reference to authentic instruments”;
Thursday 7th July: Ian Gaunt, Honorary Secretary of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association: “International enforcement of arbitration awards”;
Thursday 21st July: Save the Children: “Charities and Notaries”.
The subject matter of each lecture was relevant to notarial practice and each event was accredited for 1.5 CPE points by the Master of the Faculties.
In addition, a series of seminars and a full-day educational event took place during June and July. These followed the syllabus for the Company’s examination in advanced notarial law and practice and were intended to provide structured preparation for that examination, but were of general interest to notaries and other lawyers.
The full-day educational event event was accredited for 4.5 CPE credit points by the Master of the Faculties and was also accredited for the purpose of Rule 6 of the Notaries (Post-Admission) Rules 2009 and so notaries under supervision could comply with that Rule by attending the event.
Each seminar and the full-day’s tuition took place at the offices of one of the scrivener notary firms in Central London.
Details of further events and application forms will be available from the Company’s Education Officer (Iain Rogers – irogers@cheeswrights.co.uk) or Clerk (clerk@scriveners.org.uk) in due course. Any such events will also be posted on this webpage.
CPE seminars presented by the Worshipful Company of
Scriveners
Summer 2011
Each seminar was accredited by the Master of the Faculties for 1½ credit points under the Notaries (Continuing Professional Education) Regulations 2010
Seminar 1
Wednesday, 8th June 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public, 2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
Forms of notarial act:
Ø The distinction between notarial acts in the public and private form
Ø The direct notarial certificate
Ø Acknowledgments and other forms of declaration
Ø Attestation
Ø Public-form notarial acts
Ø Exemplifications
Ø Notarial acts for companies and other bodies corporate
Seminar 2
Tuesday, 14th June 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public, 2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
The legislation, rules and regulations applying to notaries:
Ø The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533
Ø The Public Notaries Acts 1801 and 1843
Ø The Legal Services Act 2007
Ø The Notaries Practice Rules 2009
Ø The Notaries (Conduct & Discipline) Rules 2011
Ø The Notaries (Post-Admission) Rules 2009
Ø The Notaries (Continuing Professional Education) Regulations 2010
Ø The Provision of Services Regulations 2009
Ø The Notaries (Prevention of Money Laundering) Rules 2008
Seminar 3
Thursday, 16th June 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of John Venn & Sons Scrivener Notaries, 95 Aldwych, London WC2B 4JF
The evidential status of notarial acts:
Ø The history of notaries in Europe (in outline)
Ø The history of notaries in England and Wales (in outline)
Ø The use of notarial acts in the English civil-law courts
Ø The use of notarial acts in the English courts of common law and equity
Ø The function of notaries in England and Wales after the Judicature Acts
Ø The function of notaries in Europe in modern times and the development of the enforceable authentic instrument
Ø EU Regulations 44/2001 (the Jurisdiction and Judgments Regulation) and 805/2004 (the European Enforcement Order Regulation)
Ø Civil Procedure Rule 32.20
Ø Future prospects for the evidential status and enforceability of notarial acts produced in England and Wales
Seminar 4
Wednesday, 29th June 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public, 2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
The law and practice relating to powers of attorney and other forms of agency:
Ø An outline review of the law of agency
Ø Different types of agency
Ø Actual, usual and ostensible authority
Ø The Powers of Attorney Act 1971
Ø The execution and delivery as a deed of a power of attorney
Ø The interpretation of powers of attorney (the “ejusdem generis” rule)
Ø Sub-delegation and substitution
Ø The delegation of authority by trustees
Ø Limits on the delegation of authority
Seminar 5
Wednesday, 6th July 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of Saville & Co Notaries, One Carey Lane, London EC2V 8AE
Oaths and affirmations, affidavits and statutory declarations:
Ø The origins of oaths
Ø The introduction of affirmations
Ø The Statutory Declarations Act 1835
Ø The Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889
Ø The Oaths Act 1978
Ø Administering oaths to persons to different religions
Ø Administering oaths in special circumstances
Ø Depositions
Ø Completing a jurat or declarat
Ø Exemplification
Seminar 6
Wednesday, 13th July 2011 - 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public, 2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
Protests – bills of exchange and ship protests:
Ø The function of a bill of exchange
Ø The liability of the different parties
Ø How to draw a bill of exchange
Ø The distinction between inland and foreign bills
Ø Acceptance – when compulsory and the distinction between general and conditional acceptances
Ø Presentment for payment – when and where
Ø The function of the notary in noting and protesting a dishonoured bill
Ø Recording the presentment of a dishonoured bill
Ø Drafting a deed of protest
Ø Protest for better security
Ø Acceptance and payment for honour
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF SCRIVENERS
LECTURES FOR NOTARIES – SUMMER 2011
June 21st 2011
An Overview of the current state of European Civil Procedural Law, the
particular function of notaries in EU enforcement procedures, and prospects for
future change
presented by István Varga, Ph.D., Professor of Civil Procedure,
Vice Dean of ELTE Faculty of Law (Budapest)
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public
2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
from 6pm to 8pm
Part 1: EU civil procedural law and the functions of notaries:
The current situation in the EU with regard to the regulation of cross-border
disputes, and the recognition and enforcement of court judgments;
The “new generation” of EU Regulations and the balance between co-ordination
of jurisdiction rules and harmonization of law;
The involvement of notaries in European Order For Payment and European Small
Claims Procedures – some recent experiences from Eastern Europe.
Part 2: Looking beyond the EU - EU civil procedural law in the global context
The worldwide extension of the applicability of Regulations in the field of civil
justice;
What happens when a “cross-border” dispute involves a non-EU Member State;
Mirroring the exclusive jurisdictional regimes of non-EU Member States.
Part 3: Looking beyond court judgments – the role of authentic instruments,
arbitration and other ADR mechanisms, including notarial dispute resolution:
The notarial creation of authentic instruments – experiences and views from
Eastern Europe;
Enforcement of authentic instruments under current EU Regulations;
Arbitration in the EU – the current state of the law and proposals for reform;
Recent developments and experiences with notarial civil dispute resolution.
Dr. István Varga is professor of law and vice dean at Hungary’s oldest and most
renowned law faculty at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest. In
private practice he is the co-managing partner of KNP LAW. Between 1999 and
2007 he was a counsellor in civil and civil procedural matters at the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Hungary. He lectures regularly on
comparative and international civil procedure and arbitration at a number of
universities in Hungary and abroad, including Leipzig University and Saarland
University in Germany, and Ritsumeikan University School of Law in Kyoto,
Japan. He is currently the Director of Studies at The Hague Academy of
International Law.
Dr. Varga has represented Hungary at numerous international conferences,
including the conference on “Provisional Remedies” in Athens, the XI. World
Congress on Procedural Law in Vienna, the Conference on the Role of the Judge
in Gent, the 2006 Conference of the International Association of Procedural
Law in Kyoto and the DIS Eastern and Middle European Arbitration Conference
in Düsseldorf 2009. He has published extensively on Hungarian, international
and European procedural and arbitration law.
Dr. Varga graduated with honours in German literature and linguistics at the
ELTE Faculty of Arts. In the same year he graduated summa cum laude at ELTE
Faculty of Law before continuing his legal studies at German, U.S. and French
universities, including Jena, Saarbrucken, Heidelberg, Hartford Connecticut, and
Montpellier.
Following his Hungarian Bar Exam in 2000 he returned to Germany to complete
his doctoral research, obtaining his Ph.D. summa cum laude in Germany in
2005 with his dissertation “Taking of Evidence in Transatlantic Commercial
Arbitral Proceedings”, which was published in Germany by Nomos and C.H.
Beck and awarded First Prize in the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS)
awards for excellence in the field of international dispute resolution (Berlin
2006).
In his private practice, Dr. Varga specializes in litigation and commercial
arbitration, and advises corporate clients in domestic, international and
European regulatory matters. He regularly acts as counsel in institutional
commercial arbitrations and arbitration-related court proceedings, as partyappointed
arbitrator and as expert witness at various international arbitration
institutions, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment
Disputes in Washington DC and a series of permanent arbitration courts in
Europe.
Education Day – Saturday 16th July 2011
10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
at the offices of Cheeswrights Notaries Public
2nd Floor, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF
This event was accredited for the purpose of Rule 6 of the Notaries (Post-Admission)
Rules 2009 and for 4.5 credit points under the Notaries (Continuing Professional Education)
Regulations 2010
10.30 a.m. - 11.30 a.m.: General notarial practice and client care:
Taking good care of one's clients whilst complying with the rules and regulations governing notarial
practice is obviously of key importance to all notaries, but is not always a straightforward task. This
talk will look at how to deal with a client's instructions, the different ways in which a particular
instruction may be dealt with, and how the current rules regarding anti-money laundering
procedures, record keeping and complaints procedures must be implemented.
11.45 a.m. - 1.15 p.m.: Company law for notaries:
Company law has changed considerably since the implementation of the Companies Act 2006 and
many of these changes have had a significant impact on notarial practice. This talk will look at the
production of notarial acts recording facts about UK-registered companies and overseas companies
registered in the UK, the basic law regarding the management of companies, and how to deal with
documents and deeds executed by UK-registered and overseas companies, including companies in
administration and liquidation.
2 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.: Bills of Exchange
Instructions to protest bills of exchange may now be rarer than hen's teeth, but if you were asked to
protest a bill of exchange would you know what to do? This talk demonstrates the steps that a
notary must take, including how to read and understand a bill of exchange, understanding the
liabilities of the different parties to a bill, the circumstances in which a notarial protest is required
under the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 and what to do if instructed to protest a bill of exchange for
foreign proceedings.
3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.: Shipping documents
Ships are special assets and require special treatment. Understanding the concept of a ship's flag is
essential to an understanding of ship sale-and-purchase and financing documents. The function of
the notary in relation to shipping transactions is examined in this talk and a number of practical
examples of bills of sale and ship mortgages requiring notarisation will be looked at.