Regulations on the Aptitude Test for Notaries - Examination Dates

1. The aptitude examination generally takes place in the autumn.

2. It will be conducted if at least two candidates are admitted to the examination. If a candidate has not passed the examination and registers for the next possible examination date for a retake, the examination will also be conducted.

3. Registrations must be submitted to the Notarial Commission by July 1st.

1. In order to be admitted to the qualification examination, the requirements pursuant to Art. 5, letters b, d, and e of the Law on Public Authentication (BeurkG) must be fulfilled.

2. The written application must contain

a. Certificate of residence;

b. Certificate of legal capacity;

c. Extract from the criminal record and debt collection register;

d. Proof of Swiss citizenship;

e. Proof of holding a cantonal attorney's license, if available;

f. Declaration of previous examination attempts;

g. Proof of payment of the examination fee (Art. 9 of these regulations) and, if applicable, the fee for issuing the patent certificate (Art. 5 para. 4 BeurkV).

3. The Notarial Commission may request additional documents. The documents pursuant to paragraph 2, letters a to c must not be older than two months at the time of application. Significant changes in the circumstances evidenced by the documents must be reported to the chairperson of the Notarial Commission immediately, along with all necessary documents. This applies until the decision on the result of the qualification examination is made.

1. The authorization for the examination is decided by the Presidium of the Notarial Commission.

1. Examination Includes

a. Legislation on notarization and the ordinances based thereon, including notarization techniques, as well as circulars, directives, and communications from federal and cantonal authorities and offices that are essential for notaries;

b. Fundamentals of federal and cantonal constitutional and administrative law;

c. Fundamentals of federal and cantonal private law;

d. Provisions essential for notaries

1. of the Civil Code and the federal and cantonal enforcement and introductory decrees;

2. of the Code of Obligations and the federal and cantonal enforcement and introductory decrees;

3. of federal and cantonal law on the requirement of authorization for the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad;

4. of federal and cantonal law concerning agricultural property;

5. of private international law;

6. concerning the requirement of authorization under federal and cantonal forestry law;

7. of federal and cantonal tax law;

8. of federal and cantonal criminal and criminal procedure law.

2. For candidates who have passed the bar examination, generally only the fundamentals of cantonal authority organization will be tested regarding Paragraph 1 Letter b. Paragraph 1 Letter c will not be examined separately (Art. 3 Para. 5 Second Clause BeurkV).

3. For municipal notaries according to Art. 2 Para. 2 Letter c BeurkG, the examination concerning corporate law is omitted (Art. 4 Para. 2 BeurkG).

4. The Notary Commission decides on a case-by-case basis whether and to what extent earlier notarization activities are taken into account with reduced requirements (Art. 3 Para. 5 Second Clause BeurkV).

1. The written examination consists of two written assignments, for which six hours are generally available for each.

2. The written examination includes at least the drafting of two notarial deeds.

1. The oral examination is scheduled if the result of the written examination was sufficient.

2. It generally lasts two hours, for candidates who have passed the bar exam, one and a half hours.

3. The oral examination generally consists of the following sections

a. Civil Code with federal and cantonal implementing and introductory decrees, including organizational and procedural law;

b. Code of Obligations with federal and cantonal implementing and introductory decrees, including organizational and procedural law;

c. General notarization law, fundamentals of constitutional and administrative law, as well as criminal and criminal procedural law.

4. The fundamentals of federal and cantonal private law can be examined in an additional, separate section (Art. 4 para. 2 of these regulations).

5. The presidency of the Notary Commission may order an audio recording. This is announced to the persons present in advance.

1. The qualification examination is passed (Art. 5 para. 1 let. a of the BeurkG) by anyone who has achieved the result "sufficient" in both the written and oral examinations.

1. Anyone who influences or attempts to influence the outcome of an examination through deception, particularly by using unauthorized aids, has not passed the qualification examination.

2. In the case of written examinations, the supervising person shall document the incident in writing and report it to the Presidium of the Notaries Commission. The Presidium decides on the presence of dishonest behavior. If applicable, it orders exclusion from further examinations and determines the failure of the qualification examination.

1. The fee for the aptitude examination is CHF 1,100. It is collected in advance and must be paid upon registration.

2. If the written examination is not undertaken, an amount of CHF 200 is allocated to cover expenses. If the oral examination is not undertaken, the fee is forfeited. If the written examination is failed and no retake is pursued, the applicants are refunded CHF 300.

3. The fee for retaking the written examination is CHF 800. The fee for retaking the oral examination is CHF 300.

1. The new law applies to the qualifying examination in Autumn 2023.

2. If applicants did not pass the written examination under the previous law and participate in the immediately following examination sessions for the retakes, the previous law applies to the examination subjects (Art. 4 of these regulations) as well as the fees. The oral examination generally lasts one and a half hours.

1. This Regulation shall come into force on August 11, 2023.

2. The Regulation on the Examination of Notaries in the Canton of Obwalden dated November 13, 1998, is hereby repealed.