Concurso Notarial CABA common mistakes
Concurso Notarial CABA · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Applying the national Civil and Commercial Code's default rules to a notarial act without first checking the CABA Notarial Law and the local notarial regime (e.g., protocolo, protocolización, testimonies).
Candidates study the substantive code in depth but treat the local notarial statute as secondary, so they default to national rules on formalities and competence.
What to do instead
Build a one-page 'local overlay' checklist (competence, protocolo rules, copies/testimonios, aranceles, protocolización) and run every practice fact pattern through it before answering.
Confusing the validity requirements of a deed (escritura pública) with its evidentiary force, or with the registration requirement, in a single answer.
These three layers (forma, prueba, oponibilidad) are taught separately and candidates merge them under time pressure.
What to do instead
For each instrument, write three separate lines: 'validez', 'eficacia probatoria', 'oponibilidad a terceros/registración', and answer only the layer the question asks about.
Misclassifying the contract type in a fact pattern (e.g., treating a locación with option to buy as compraventa, or a comodato as locación) and then applying the wrong set of rules.
Candidates pattern-match on isolated keywords instead of identifying the essential elements and the parties' economic purpose.
What to do instead
Practice a two-step routine: list essential elements (cosa, precio, consentimiento, plazo) and the parties' real intent, then name the contract before citing any article.
Choosing the wrong corporate type or organ for a decision (e.g., attributing to the asamblea what requires a directorio resolution, or ignoring quorum/mayoría rules in an S.A. or S.R.L.).
Memorized lists of organs are recalled, but the mapping of specific decisions to organs and majorities is not practiced.
What to do instead
Make a decision-to-organ-to-majority matrix for S.A. and S.R.L. and drill it with short hypotheticals until the mapping is automatic.
Answering a constitutional or human-rights question by citing the norm's name without identifying the applicable control standard (constitutionality, convencionalidad, razonabilidad, jerarquía).
Candidates memorize article numbers and treaty names but do not rehearse applying a control test to a concrete restriction.
What to do instead
Practice writing three-sentence answers that name the standard, apply it to the facts, and state the conclusion; keep a list of the standards with one example each.
Mixing procedural roles and remedies (e.g., confusing nulidad with revocatoria, or incidental with main proceedings) when a notarial act is challenged in court.
Procedural topics are studied as isolated units, and candidates rarely trace a notarial document through litigation.
What to do instead
Draw a flow from 'instrument challenged' to each available remedy, noting who files, before which judge, and the effect on the instrument; review it before the exam.
Ignoring the interaction between family/succession rules and the notarial act (e.g., legitime, conyugal partnership characterization, or who must consent to a transfer).
Candidates treat family and succession law as separate from practice and forget to check heirs' and spouse's rights before drafting.
What to do instead
Adopt a mandatory pre-drafting checklist: marital status, characterization of assets, forced heirs, and required consents, applied to every transfer or succession hypothetical.
Overlooking tax consequences of the instrument (e.g., which tax applies, who is liable, and whether the notary acts as withholding or collection agent) and answering only on civil effects.
Tax is perceived as a separate subject, so candidates stop at the civil analysis of the act.
What to do instead
Attach a tax line to every practice instrument: applicable tax, taxable base, liable party, and notary's role; rehearse with three common acts (compraventa, donación, sucesión).
Treating registration as automatic after the deed, without verifying title chain, liens, or the principle of prioridad/legitimación in the specific case.
Candidates assume 'deed signed = property secured' and skip the registral analysis step.
What to do instead
For each property hypothetical, do a three-step registral check (cadena de titularidad, gravámenes, prioridad) and state the registral effect explicitly in the answer.
Producing a draft instrument that omits mandatory formal elements (identification of parties, capacity statements, fecha, lugar, firmas, protocolización) or uses ambiguous clauses that create interpretive risk.
Under time pressure candidates prioritize content over form and rely on memory of a template rather than a structural checklist.
What to do instead
Memorize a fixed drafting skeleton and time yourself drafting two instruments per week, checking each against the skeleton before reviewing legal content.