07 December  ‘99:  Quality Service Charter for Notary to Government and Notarial Archives

In an effort to ensure that all notarial acts are sent for archiving so that they will be at the disposal of the public, Parliament has earlier this year enacted a law which obliges notaries to deposit volumes of original deeds published by them for archiving. Furthermore, a Special Commissioner responsible for Notarial Acts has been appointed to effect a preliminary inspection of such volumes and in such way help streamline the process. The enactment of this law forms part of our commitment to provide a better customer services to the public since all archived acts will now be at the customer’s disposal. This was announced by Notary Dr Franco Pellegrini, Chief Notary to Government and Archivist during the presentation of the quality Service Charter to the Office of the Notary to Government and Notarial Archives. The presentation was presided by the Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Tonio Borg, the Minister for Justice and Local Government, Hon. Austin Gatt and the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Home Affairs, Hon. George Pullicino.

Dr Pellegrini also spoke about the increase in the number of copies of notarial acts issued each year, which he said increased from 500 copies in 1980 to 6,000 copies consisting of a total of 65,000 pages in 1998. Today the Notarial Archives hold a total of over 35,000 volumes stored at the Department’s premises in Mikiel Anton Vassalli Street and St Christopher Street, Valletta. Another 2 rooms which can take up to 9,000 volumes have recently been refurbished for the eventual storing of new volumes.

Speaking about the Department’s role, Dr Pellegrini stated that "the Office of the Notary and the Notarial Archives make up a single department established by law in order to provide notarial services to Government Departments and Parastatal Corporations in respect of the publication, preservation and custody of notarial acts. The Department also offers a service to members of the public wishing to inspect any deed published by notaries practising in Malta from the 15^th Century to date and to order a copy of any document. The Notary to Government also provides notarial services to the public in erspect of deeds of sale of grave-sites from Government, deeds with officers who are to follow a course of study/training paid by Government/Corporation, contract of works with developers doing construction work for Government and contracts for grants to farmers or fishermen."