Professional Ethics, Anti-Corruption, and Personal Data Protection
What this domain tests
This domain tests the notary’s ethical compass and the compliance rules that surround it: impartiality, confidentiality, conflict of interest, anti-corruption, and personal-data protection.
Core rules
- The notary must be independent and impartial, avoid conflicts of interest, and refuse acts where a personal or family interest exists. Gifts, unofficial payments, and “facilitation” fees are prohibited.
- Notarial secrecy is a professional and legal duty. Disclosure is allowed only to the parties, their authorised representatives, courts, and bodies expressly empowered by law.
- Anti-corruption law requires transparency in fees, recordkeeping, and interactions with public officials. The notary must not use official position to obtain advantages or accept unlawful remuneration.
- Personal data must be collected for a lawful purpose, limited to what is necessary, stored securely, and not transferred without a legal basis or consent. The notary is a data controller for the file.
- Ethics also require respectful communication, refusal to draft unlawful terms, and avoidance of advertising that misleads or promises outcomes.
Worked example
A bank asks a notary to disclose an inheritance file to check a loan. The notary should refuse unless the bank has a legal basis or the heirs’ consent. The correct response is to explain the secrecy rule and, if needed, ask the heirs to provide the document themselves or obtain a court order.
Traps
Discussing a client’s will with relatives; accepting cash without a receipt; using client data for marketing; treating a conflict of interest as a private matter; assuming consent to one act covers all future disclosures; confusing ethical duties with mere courtesy.