The "godfathers" of Lithuanian notariat - the German Koblenz Chamber of Notaries - celebrated their 75th anniversary

Hans-Joachim Massing (left), former president of the Koblenz Chamber of Notaries, Marius Stračkaitis, president of Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries, and former manager of the Koblenz Chamber of Notaries, notary Hans-Jorg Assenmacher.

On 5 September, the President of the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries Marius Stračkaitis participated in the 75th anniversary celebration of the Koblenz Chamber of Notaries in Germany. Koblenz Chamber of Notaries is a German organisation that played a key role in the reform of the Lithuanian notariat three decades ago.

The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Justice of the Rhineland-Palatinate Herbert Mertin, the President of the German Federal Chamber of Notaries Prof. Dr. Jens Bormann, and the President of the Koblenz City Chamber of Notaries Dr. Ulrich Dempfle. Mr. Stračkaitis reviewed more than three decades of cooperation with the notaries of Koblenz.

Participants shared their memories about the beginning of the reforms of legal institutions in the Baltic States and their work on the reform of the Lithuanian notariat.

After the Baltic countries regained their independence and started to reform their legislature, cooperation with several German states was established. The German Chamber of Notaries of Koblenz took the Lithuanian notariat under its wing. In accordance to the Law on Notariat adopted in 1992, Lithuanian notarial system was reformed from a post-Soviet state-run notariat to a private Latin-type notariat, which is related to the traditions of German notarial law.

Koblenz notaries have provided immeasurable and valuable methodological support to their colleagues in Lithuania, participating in dozens of conferences and seminars over three decades, and sharing their experience in other ways.