Criminal Liability of Notaries Public: Analysis of Legal Challenges and Preventive Solutions in the Iranian Registration System

In the Iranian registration system, notaries of official documents, as the main custodians of the legal security of ownership and ensuring the authenticity of documents, have extensive and sensitive duties. The expansion of these duties, along with the lack of resources, adequate supervision, and updating of laws, has led to the occurrence of numerous violations and crimes by these officials. The liability of notaries in the event of violation of legal duties can be examined in three areas: civil, criminal, and disciplinary; but what is of particular importance is the criminal liability of these officials, which, given the significant increase in notarial crimes and violations in recent years, requires systematic review and in-depth analysis. Despite the provision of some criminal and disciplinary regulations, the Iranian legal system has not been able to prevent the commission of notarial crimes, especially in the areas of forgery, collusion, abuse of position, and issuing false documents, due to the existence of legal gaps, interpretative ambiguities, and the lack of effective deterrent mechanisms. On the other hand, notary public’s disciplinary violations require a specific punitive system and procedural rules that have not yet been implemented in a comprehensive and efficient manner in the country. In contrast, the Iranian legal system has foreseen two approaches to criminal and non-criminal prevention in dealing with notary public’s crimes, and in practice, the use of non-criminal prevention has been given more attention than criminal prevention. This research, which was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method, aims to analyze the foundations, challenges, and weaknesses in the field of criminal liability of notaries and to provide preventive and corrective solutions, seeking to redefine this responsibility within the framework of registration justice and legal security of society.