Mauritania’s National Bar Council expressed their opposition to a new law adopted by the government denying notaries some legal prerogatives that fall under their remit.
The new law amends another which conferred on lawyers the prerogative to draft certain contracts such as in many similar regimes like Morocco or Senegal, the Council explained in a statement sent to APA on Friday.
It points out that the government’s amendments were approved without any consultation with the bar, which means that the prerogative detracted from the lawyers’ competence now fall under the notaries’ authority.
According to Mauritania’s Justice Minister Haimoud Ould Ramdan, the new law lists all legal actions falling under the notaries’ competence, adding that contracts relating to business remain within the lawyers’ domain.
In addition, Ould Ramdan indicated, in a press briefing last night in Nouakchott, that these amendments are meant to ease procedures and provide greater clarity in the powers of lawyers and notaries in drawing up contracts relating to business assets.
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