Summary

On 1 November 2013, 20 years passed from the entry into force of the Notaries Act that laid the foundation for the establishment of the current Estonian notaries’ offices. Society and the law have gone through several successful reforms in that time. Although most of the main principles have remained the same, jurisdiction of both the notaries and the Chamber of Notaries have progressed, as well as the laws and other legislation that regulate the operation of notaries. Regardless of the fact that, in general, the rules governing the profession of notary and its professional operations are thorough and their amendment is justified pursuant to need, in looking back at their extensive number, at times, a question may arise on whether all of the amendments have always been justified and thought through sufficiently, and whether they have achieved their objectives.

This article presents an overview of the most important stages of amendments to the Notaries law and their impacts in the last 20 years.