Historical Foundations and Post-Socialist Reconstruction of the Latin-type Notariat in the Successor States of Former Yugoslavia
Attila Dudás
University of Novi Sad , Serbiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-8013
Emma Király-Szitás
PhD student at the Ferenc Deák Doctoral School of Faculty of Law of the University of Miskolc , Serbiahttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-3788-4776
Abstract
This study examines the historical foundations of the Latin-type notariat in the successor states of the former Yugoslavia. In order to understand the contemporary system of notarial institutions in the Western Balkans, the layered historical interaction of different legal traditions, interwar harmonization efforts, and socialist abolition should be analyzed. The paper aims to present the development of the Latin-type notariat through two decisive historical phases: the pre-1945 coexistence of Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman legal models together with the partial and uneven implementation of the 1930 Notaries Act, and the structural rupture caused by the socialist dismantling of the notarial profession. Through a historical-comparative methodological approach, the study demonstrates that the evolution of the Latin-type notariat in the region was a lengthy process of institutional development under the influence of legal particularism and disrupted professional continuity. These findings provide the analytical foundation for a subsequent comparative evaluation of contemporary notarial systems in the region.
Keywords:
Latin-type notariat, public notaries, legal transplants, Western Balkans, Yugoslav legal traditionReferences
Anastasopoulos, Antonis. “Karaferye (Veroia) in the 1790s: How Much Can the Kadı Sicilleri Tell Us?.” In Ottoman Rule and the Balkans, 1760–1850: Conflict, Transformation, Adaptation, edited by Antonis Anastasopoulos and Elias Kolovos, 45–59. Rethymno: University of Crete, Department of History and Archaeology, 2007.
Aykan, Yavuz, and Boğac Ergene. “Shari‘a Courts in the Ottoman Empire Before the Tanzimat.” The Medieval History Journal 22, no. 2 (2019): 203–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971945819897437.
Bačanin, Nevenka. “Notarijat na području ranije jugoslovenske države” [Public Notaries in the Region of Former Yugoslavia]. In Pravo i usluge: Zbornik referata sa Međunarodnog naučnog skupa održanog 3. maja 2012. godine [Law and Services: Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference Held on 3 May 2012], edited by Miodrag Mićović, 733–44. Kragujevac: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Kragujevcu, Institut za pravne i društvene nauke, 2012.
Bakšić, Šukrija, and Esad Oruč. “Civil Law Notaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Actors in Preventive Justice.” 3rd International Symposium on sustainable Development 1, no. 3 (2012): 412–19.
Bartulović, Željko, Ivona Šego-Marić, and Ivana Marušić. “Javna vjera i karakter notarskih isprava – tradicija i suvremeni notarijat u Bosni i Hercegovini” [Public Faith and Character of Notary Documents—Tradition and Modern Notary in Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Zbornik radova Aktualnosti građanskog i trgovačkog zakonodavstva i pravne prakse, no. 20 (2023): 182–94. https://doi.org/10.47960/2744–2918.20.23.182.
Bikić, Enes, Miraš Radović, and Sefedin Suljević. Notarijat u Crnoj Gori. Podgorica: Ministarstvo pravde, 2010.
Braniselj, Erika. “National Report Slovenia.” Notarius International 9, no. 3–4 (2004): 169–85.
Bumann, Ninja. “Forging a Habsburg Islamic Legal System: Legal Transformation and Local Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878–1918).” Journal of Islamic Law 4, Special Issue (2023): 51–92. https://doi.org/10.53484%2Fjil.v4.bumann.
Drakić, Gordana. “Normativno uređenje ustanove javnog beležništva u Kraljevini Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca (Kraljevini Jugoslaviji)” [Legal Regulation of the Institute of Notary Public in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)]. Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta, Novi Sad 48, no. 4 (2014): 201–15. https://doi.org/10.5937/zrpfns48–7568.
Đurđević, Dejan. Javnobeležnička delatnost [Profession of the Notary Public]. Beograd: Dosije studio, 2014.
Durmišević, Enes. “Šerijatski sudovi u Bosni u drugoj polovini XIX stoljeća.” Anali Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Zenici 6, no. 12 (2013): 75–89.
Gardaš, Miro, and Boris Mušić. “Ustrojstvo sudova i pravnička djelatnost u Osijeku od 1850. do 1945.” [Organisation of the courts and legal activities in Osijek from 1850 to 1945]. Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Splitu 43, no. 3–4 (2006): 423–38. https://hrcak.srce.hr/37837.
Kaserer, Josef. Die Notariatsordnung vom 25. Juli 1871. Wien: Holder, 1887.
Knežić-Popović, Dragana. “Pravna priroda javnog beležništva” [Legal Nature of Public Notary]. Pravni zapisi 1, no. 2 (2010): 339–63. https://doi.org/10.5937/pravzap1002339K.
Krešić, Mirela. “Javno bilježništvo na hrvatsko-slavonskom pravnom području 1859.–1941.” [Public Notary in the Croatian-Slavonian Legal Area 1859–1942]. Časopis za suvremenu povijest 42, no. 1 (2010): 91–126. https://hrcak.srce.hr/60122.
Leković, Gorjana. Notarijat u Crnoj Gori. Podgorica: Akcija za ljudska prava, 2017.
Malavet, Pedro A. “Counsel for the Situation: The Latin Notary, A Historical and Comparative Model.” Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 19, no. 3 (1996): 389–488. https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol19/iss3/1.
Nedeljković, Radmila. “Javni beležnici—Notari i arhivska građa” [Public Notaries – Public Notaries and Archives]. Arhiv, no. 1–2 (2015): 71–81.
Rakitovan, Darian. “Notary Public—Guarantees of Legal Certainty and Efficiency.” In Towards a Better Future: The Rule of Law, Democracy and Polycentric Development: Conference Proceedings. Vol. 2, 98–109. Bitola: “St. Kliment Ohridski” University, 2018.
Reyerson, Kathryn L., and Debra A. Salata. Medieval Notaries and Their Acts: The 1327–1328 Register of Jean Holanie. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2mm1z5r.
Šarkić, Nebojša, Milanka Furtula-Đorđević, Milena Trgovčević-Prokić, Dragana Knežić-Popović, and Ljubiša Dabić. O javnom beležniku – Notaru [On the Notary Public], edited by Nebojša Šarkić. Beograd: Gosarijum, 2004.
Šego-Marić, Ivona. “Europska tradicija notarijata i Bosna i Hercegovina” [European Tradition of Notary and Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Zbornik radova Aktualnosti građanskog i trgovačkog zakonodavstva i pravne prakse, no. 17 (2019): 360–75.
Selaković, Nikola. “Roots of the Latin Type of the Notary Public Service.” Anali Pravnog Fakulteta u Beogradu 65, no. 3 (2017): 153–66. https://doi.org/10.5937/analipfb1703153s.
Senjak, Kata. “Notarijat i izvršnost notarskih akata” [Public Notary Service and the Enforceability of Notary’s Instruments]. Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu 63, no. 2 (2013): 449–82. https://hrcak.srce.hr/109713.
Shaw, Gisela. “The German Notariat and the European Challenge.” International Journal of the Legal Profession 10, no. 1 (2003): 37–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969595032000083155.
Vuletić, Vladimir. “Latinski Notarijat: Temelji i Izgradnja” [Latin Notary: Foundations and Building]. Pravni život 12 (2012): 61–78.
Wenckstern, Manfred. S.v. “Notary Public.” Max Planck Encyclopedia of European Private Law. Accessed November 30, 2025. https://max-eup2012.mpipriv.de/index.php/Notary_Public.
Zimmermann, Stefan, and Andreas Schmitz-Vornmoor. “Javnobilježnička služba u EU – Filozofija struke i trendovi razvoja, harmonizacija i ujednačavanje” [Notaries Public Service in the EU – Philosophy of the Profession and Development Trends, Harmonization and Standardization]. Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu 59, no. 6 (2009): 1217–15. https://hrcak.srce.hr/45427.
Živković, Miloš, and Vesna Živković. “O uvođenju javnog beležništva u Srbiji” [On the Introduction of Public Notary Service in Serbia]. Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu 63, no. 2 (2013): 433–48. https://hrcak.srce.hr/109712.
PhD student at the Ferenc Deák Doctoral School of Faculty of Law of the University of Miskolc https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3788-4776
