Three notaries appointed against CTN advice

Minister of Legal Protection Franc Weerwind appointed three civil-law notaries last year, despite the advice of the Commission on Access to the Notary Profession (CTN). He made this announcement in response to questions from Members of Parliament Raymond Knops (CDA), Ulysse Ellian (VVD), Michiel van Nispen (SP), and Songül Mutluer (PvdA). They called the minister to account after the entire advisory committee resigned last November.

The CTN filed for dismissal because the minister made several decisions against the committee's advice. This led to a difference of opinion between the Ministry of Justice and Security and the CTN regarding the committee's responsibilities and how the ministry addressed the CTN's recommendations.

Deviating from advice
Last year, the CTN issued a total of 78 recommendations regarding the suitability of candidate civil-law notaries for the office, including four negative recommendations. Last year, Minister Weerwind deviated from a negative recommendation in three cases. The Minister states that he nevertheless proceeded with the appointment of these three candidates because they had "made provisions."

Delay in appointments
Due to the resignation of the CTN, the appointment of candidate civil-law notaries has been delayed in at least 18 cases. The Minister cannot guarantee that their appointment requests will be processed within the statutory five-month period. The establishment of a temporary CTN, which also includes Annerie Ploumen, chair of the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB), should minimize the delays. The temporary committee is now meeting more frequently to address the backlog.

Personal suitability
To prevent future appointment problems, the Minister is working with the temporary committee and the Royal Dutch Notary Association (KNB) to further define the term "personal suitability" as referred to in Article 8 of the Civil-Law Notaries Act. He hopes to be able to provide more clarity on this matter later this year.