Considering the migration of Ukrainian citizens when a huge number of them stay in foreign countries, the issue of providing them with quality notary services in consular offices and diplomatic missions is relevant. The advantages of the consular certificate of notarial acts in comparison with similar actions of foreign notaries are that the further certification of the notarial act is not required. At the same time, notary services in consular offices and diplomatic missions are not always provided with quality, which negatively affects the protection and defence of the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens and legal entities, negatively affects Ukraine’s image abroad. Therefore, these issues are difficult to overestimate, and active work is needed to improve the mechanism for exercising the right of such persons to file a complaint, which will prevent similar problems in the future.

The purpose of the study is to substantiate a new view on the problem of protection and defence of the rights of citizens and legal entities who have suffered or consider themselves to have suffered a violation of their rights at the time of the performance of a notarial act by the consul. Hereat, a broad view of this issue is to analyse the administrative and judicial procedures for the protection of the rights of such persons.

The author analyses various problems of theory and practice in the field of appealing against an act or omission of the consul when performing notarial acts.  The author substantiates that consular notary services should be subordinated, simultaneously, to two ministries: the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The article highlights the grounds for appealing against the refusal to perform notarial acts or incorrect performance of them, in particular: ill-treatment of citizens, which is unacceptable for employees of consular offices; errors in the qualification of certain legal relations; imperfection of legislation. The author analyses the issue of jurisdiction over appeals against an act or omission of the consul when performing notarial acts and argues that the nature of the dispute should be taken as a basis, and therefore the jurisdiction of the court should be determined by the rules of the case (dispute).

The author concluded that in the event that the main parties of the dispute will be, in particular, the parties to the civil contract certified by the consul, the dispute should be considered in civil proceedings; and when the refusal of the consul to perform a notarial act is challenged, the dispute must be considered in administrative proceedings. The existence of a complaint as a separate procedural document, under present-day conditions, is not appropriate. The author proposes to improve the legislation, considering it unacceptable to restrict the rights of citizens and legal entities in choosing the method of protection of their own rights, violated by the consul during the notarial proceedings.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Lapin G, Konsul’skaja sluzhba: ucheb. posobie (2-e izd, pererab i dop, Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija 2005) (in Russian).

2. Plotnikova O, Konsul’skie otnoshenija i konsul’skoe pravo: uchebnik dlja studentov vuzov, obuchajushhihsja po specyalnosti “Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija” i “Medunarodnoe pravo” (Norma: INFRA-M 1999) (in Russian).

3. Semakov H ta Kondrakova S, Notariat v Ukraini: kurs lektsii (MAUP 2001) (in Ukrainian).

4. Solov’ev Je, Osnovy konsul’skogo prava: uchebnoe posobie (Os’-89 2005) (in Russian).

 Edited books

 5. Polski konsulat we Lwowie 1987–2012 (Zienierwicz M zebr i oprac, Kulikowska A współpr, Test 2012) (in Polish).

6. Dyplomatychna ta konsulska sluzhba: konspekt lektsii (Huliiev A uklad, NAU 2011) (in Ukrainian).

7. Snidevych O, ‘Poniattia notarialnoho aktu’ v Fursa S (zah red), Teoriia notarialnoho protsesu: naukovo-praktychnyi posibnyk (Alerta, Tsentr uchbovoi literatury 2012) (in Ukrainian).

Journal articles

 8. Dotsenko O, ‘Oskarzhennia vidmovy konsula u vchynenni notarialnoi dii abo yii nepravylnoho vchynennia’ (2017) 4 Tsyvilistychna protsesualna dumka 35–8 (in Ukrainian).

9. Mitina T, ‘Oskarzhennia notarialnykh dii, vchynenykh konsulom’ (2019) 1 Tsyvilistychna protsesualna dumka 26–30 (in Ukrainian).

10. Sososnovych M, ‘Tsyvilno-pravova vidpovidalnist konsula za nepravylno vchynenu ta vidmovu u vchynenni notarialnoi dii’ (2019) 1 Tsyvilistychna protsesualna dumka 30–3 (in Ukrainian).

11. Yedeliev R, ‘Poniattia ta sposoby zakriplennia protsedury zdiisnennia delehovanoho konsulskoho zakhystu’ (2010) 2 Visnyk Akademii advokatury Ukrainy 115–9 (in Ukrainian).

Theses

12. Hrinenko O, ‘Osoblyvosti pravovoho statusu konsula pry vykonanni notarialnoi funktsii: mizhnarodno-pravovyi aspekt’ (dys kand yuryd nauk, 2005) (in Ukrainian).

13. Dyka A, ‘Spir pro pravo u tsyvilistychnomu protsesi’ (avtoref dys kand yuryd nauk, 2019) (in Ukrainian).

14. Kravchenko N, ‘Mizhnarodno-pravovyi aspekt okhorony bezspirnykh tsyvilnykh prav u notarialnii diialnosti dyplomatychnykh predstavnytstv’ (avtoref dys kand yuryd nauk, 2013) (in Ukrainian).

15. Sviatun O, ‘Zakhyst prav ta interesiv hromadian v praktytsi orhaniv zovnishnikh znosyn Ukrainy’ (dys kand yuryd nauk, 2011) (in Ukrainian).

Websites

16. ‘Notarialnyi akt’ (Iurydychnyi slovnyk-dovidnyk) <https://subject.com.ua/pravo/ dict/708.html> (accessed: 26.08.2020) (in Ukrainian).

17. ‘Rozghliad zvernen hromadian’ (Posolstvo Ukrainy v Respublitsi Koreia) <https://korea. mfa.gov.ua/konsulski-pitannya/1621-requests> (accessed: 26.08.2020) (in Ukrainian).