engleski

Functions of Notaries Public in Medieval Ragusa

This paper provides a historical perspective on the contemporary issue of outsourcing, in the context of the actual or theoretical devolution of judicial tasks and functions from the courts to notaries, which could be considered an outsourcing of the functions traditionally associated with the judiciary. From a historical outlook of the Middle Ages, this distribution of functions is reflected in the different tasks of notarius and cancellarius. Generally, notarius performed private legal services, such as composition of contracts, debt instruments, etc. On the other hand, cancellarius held a public office, in which he took minutes of the judicial proceedings, administered land registries, etc. This paper analyzes public and private aspects of the functions of notaries public in Medieval Ragusa. It specifically concentrates on the first lay notary public Tomasino de Savere, who performed notary services at the end of the 13th century. He was an educated scholar of Roman law from northern Italy, and a first layman to perform those services. Moreover, he was a first person to hold office both as notarius and cancellarius, while still explicitly and strictly differentiating between those functions. Analysis of his role is thus most helpful in the understanding of the distribution of judicial tasks and functions between public and private legal domain in Medieval Ragusa.

outsourcing; notaries public; notarius; cancellarius; Ragusa; fides publica

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