Notary in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the role of the lawyer
Key facts
- The notary is an impartial holder of a public office and represents neither party; the lawyer is the only participant defending the interest of one client alone.
- In Republika Srpska notarial processing remains mandatory for five groups of transactions under Article 57 of the Law on Notary Service, and transactions lacking that form are null and void.
- In the Federation of BiH Article 73 of the Law on Notaries was repealed by the Constitutional Court of the FBiH; under the legal opinion of the Supreme Court of the FBiH signatures are certified before a notary or before a court, so a lawyer may draw up the sale contract, have it certified at court and carry out the land register registration.
- The draft text of a document may be prepared by the parties or their legal representatives; the Law on Notaries of Brčko District BiH states expressly that lawyers may prepare documents and represent parties before a notary.
- Purchase and transfer of ownership can be completed entirely by power of attorney, without the client travelling to BiH, which clients from Germany, Austria and Switzerland use most often.
- A notarially processed document can be an enforceable instrument if it relates to money or fungible goods and the debtor has consented to immediate enforcement.
- The office works throughout BiH, in the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska and Brčko District. Contact: +387 35 258 110, advokat@advokat-prnjavorac.com.
Notarial proceedings look simple until something goes wrong. The notary draws up the document, reads it to the parties and warns them of the legal consequences, but by law the notary is impartial and may neither represent nor mediate between the parties. From that follows a practical consequence that clients usually grasp too late: at the notary's office, nobody is looking after your interest alone. The lawyer is the only participant who does exactly that, and the work begins long before the parties appear at the notary's office.
What representation before a notary means
Representation before a notary covers the preparation, negotiation and control of a transaction that is to be notarially processed or certified. In practice this means verifying the land register and cadastral position, establishing encumbrances and restrictions, drafting the contract, negotiating disputed clauses with the opposing party and its attorney, attending the execution of the notarial document and, finally, carrying out the registration in the public registers.
The Law on Notaries expressly provides that the rule on notarial processing does not exclude the possibility for the draft text of a document to be prepared by the parties or their legal representatives, and that the preparation of documents for notarial processing and the representation of parties before notaries may be carried out by lawyers. The notary then applies the prescribed procedure to a text that has already been legally prepared. For the client the difference is substantial: a contract prepared in advance contains provisions on the payment deadline, handover of possession, allocation of taxes and costs, the consequences of default and security for payment, whereas a standard form usually has none of that.
The office handles this type of work across the whole field of real estate transactions, from the contract of sale, through the contract of lifetime support and the division of marital property, to the founding acts of companies.
When notarial processing is mandatory in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Notarial law in BiH is not uniform. Each of the three legal areas has its own statute, and the differences have become significant following the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH. This is the position as at the date this page was updated:
| Area and legislation | What is required |
|---|---|
| Federation of BiH Law on Notaries of the FBiH (PDF, English), Official Gazette of the FBiH 45/02 and 30/16, decision of the Constitutional Court | Article 73 has been repealed. Under the legal opinion of the Supreme Court of the FBiH, the signatures of the contracting parties on contracts transferring rights in real estate must be certified before a notary or before a court, as a condition of validity for land register registration. The contract itself may be drawn up by a lawyer. |
| Republika Srpska Law on Notary Service of the RS (Official Gazette of the RS 28/21), Article 57, Bosnian version | Notarial processing is mandatory for five groups of transactions, among them the transfer or acquisition of ownership and other rights in rem in immovable property, and the founding acts of companies. Transactions lacking that form are null and void. |
| Brčko District BiH Law on Notaries of Brčko District BiH (PDF, Bosnian) | The range of transactions requiring notarial processing has been retained, together with an express provision that the preparation of documents for notarial processing and certification, as well as the representation of parties before notaries, may be carried out by lawyers. |
Because of these differences, the first question in any transaction is not which notary, but which law applies. A property in Bijeljina and a property in Tuzla do not follow the same path, even though the contract looks the same.
What has changed in the Federation of BiH
By judgment no. U-15/10 of 2 December 2015 the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH held that Article 73 of the Law on Notaries, which listed the transactions requiring mandatory notarial processing, was not in conformity with the Constitution of the Federation of BiH. By judgment no. U-22/16 of 6 March 2019 the same court also declared unconstitutional the provisions of five statutes under which mandatory notarial processing had been prescribed outside the Law on Notaries.
The resulting gap was filled by the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH in its legal opinion no. 70 0 Dn 009610 22 Spp of 8 December 2022, holding that the signatures of the contracting parties on contracts transferring rights in real estate must be certified either by a notary or by a court, as a condition of validity for registration in the land register. The full text of that legal opinion is published on the page signatures of contracting parties on contracts transferring real estate (Bosnian version), with further case law on the page case law on property law (Bosnian version).
The practical consequence for clients: in the Federation of BiH a lawyer may draw up the sale contract and any other contract transferring rights in real estate, the parties' signatures are certified at court under the Law on Certification of Signatures, Manuscripts and Transcripts (PDF, Bosnian), and the lawyer then carries out the registration in the land register, without the involvement of a notary. The office uses that route where it is faster or more economical for the client than notarial processing.
Practical note. It does not follow that the notary has become redundant. It follows that in the Federation of BiH there is a choice of form, that the choice carries its own price and consequences, and that the decision should be made before signing rather than once the contract cannot be registered in the land register. The legislator has not yet harmonised this area: in January 2026 the Government of the FBiH adopted a draft Law on Notary Service in the Federation of BiH, which as at the date of this update is still awaiting adoption in the FBiH Parliament.
What the lawyer does and what the notary does
The roles neither overlap nor exclude one another. The notary is responsible for the form and legality of the document, the lawyer for the substance of the transaction and for the interest of the client.
| Stage of the transaction | Who carries it out |
|---|---|
| Verification of the land register, cadastre and encumbrances | Lawyer |
| Negotiation of price, payment deadline and handover of possession | Lawyer |
| Drafting the contract and securing payment | Lawyer |
| Establishing the identity and legal capacity of the parties | Notary |
| Reading the document, instruction on consequences, execution of the original | Notary |
| Protecting the interest of one party during processing | Lawyer |
| Registration in the land register | Lawyer (in the RS the notary also files the application ex officio) |
| Tax returns and action on tax assessments | Lawyer |
In the Federation of BiH a lawyer may also complete the entire transaction without notarial processing: drawing up the sale contract, having the parties' signatures certified at court, and carrying out the registration in the land register.
Purchase and power of attorney without travelling to BiH
A significant part of the office's work is conducted for clients living in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries. As a rule such a client cannot take leave every time something has to be signed, so the entire transaction is handled on the basis of a power of attorney.
Under Article 90 of the Law on Obligations, the form prescribed for a legal transaction also applies to the power of attorney for concluding that transaction. A power of attorney for real estate transactions is therefore not drafted freely, but in the form corresponding to the contract itself. A power of attorney signed abroad is certified at a diplomatic or consular mission of BiH or before a foreign notary, with an Apostille and a translation by a certified court translator where it is drawn up in a foreign language. For documents executed before a foreign notary, the case law on recognition of a foreign notarial decision in BiH is also relevant (Bosnian version), and more generally the page on recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions.
The power of attorney is drawn up in the Bosnian language and must contain an accurate description of the property according to the land register and clearly defined authority. A power of attorney drafted too broadly is a risk for the client, one drafted too narrowly is rejected by the land registry. The office prepares the text of the power of attorney in advance and sends it to the client by email, so that only the certification of the signature takes place abroad.
When a notarially processed document becomes an enforceable instrument
This is the reason notarial processing is chosen even where it is not mandatory. A notarially processed document has the force of an enforceable instrument if it is drawn up in respect of a claim whose subject is the payment of a specified sum of money, the delivery of a specified quantity of fungible goods or securities, and if the debtor has expressly consented in the document itself to immediate enforcement. This is regulated by Article 90 of the Law on Notaries of the Federation of BiH, Article 76 of the Law on Notary Service of Republika Srpska and Article 64 of the Law on Notaries of Brčko District BiH.
The creditor then obtains an enforceable copy of the original from the notary and initiates enforcement proceedings without prior litigation, which can save several years of proceedings. One limitation should be known in advance: such a document is enforceable only in respect of the claim, so in a bilateral contract it cannot be used to compel delivery of the object itself. Enforcement against property encumbered by a mortgage registered on the basis of a notarially processed document, where the debtor has expressly consented, is regulated separately. More on out of court and judicial recovery on the page debt collection in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Notarial processing in commercial law
In Republika Srpska the founding acts of companies are expressly listed among the transactions requiring mandatory notarial processing. In the Federation of BiH, following the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH, that duty no longer exists to the same extent, yet founding acts, articles of association, their amendments and status changes are in practice still most often executed before a notary. Of particular value to businesses is the possibility of having loan, lease, supply or security agreements notarially processed with a clause consenting to immediate enforcement, thereby giving them the force of an enforceable instrument.
The office prepares such documents together with a review of the register position and the internal acts of the company. More on related areas on the pages corporate law and company formation.
Notary costs and lawyer's costs
These are two separate costs, calculated under two different sets of rules. In the Federation of BiH the notary's fee is calculated under the Tariff on Fees and Costs of Notaries of the Federation of BiH, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 40/21, according to the value of the subject matter of the transaction, the time spent, or as a fixed amount. An overview of tariff numbers and amounts is available on the page notarial tariff of the FBiH (Bosnian version), and the rules of the notary service are set out in the Rules and Regulations of the Notary Service of the FBiH (PDF, English).
The lawyer's fee is calculated under the Attorney Tariff of the FBiH or under a written agreement with the client. To that are added public charges: court and administrative fees, the land register registration fee and real property transfer tax where payable. Before taking on a matter the office provides a written estimate of the total cost, because what surprises a client is the total, not the individual item.
How we work with clients
- First contact and documents. It is enough to send the land register extract or the plot number and the basic details of the transaction, by email.
- Legal due diligence. We check ownership, encumbrances, pending applications, notes, the designated use of the land and any obstacles specific to the buyer, including restrictions applying to foreign persons and reciprocity.
- Draft contract and negotiation. We write the contract, not the other side, and we agree it with the other attorney or with the notary.
- Power of attorney. If the client is not travelling to BiH, we prepare the text of the power of attorney and instructions for certification abroad.
- The notary appointment. We attend the notary with the client or under the power of attorney and supervise the execution of the document.
- Registration and taxes. We file the registration application, monitor the procedure and act on the tax assessments.
The office works throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, in all three legal areas, with its seat in Tuzla. Contact details are available on the contact page, and the office telephone is +387 35 258 110. More on buying and selling from the perspective of the buyer and the seller on the page real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Frequently asked questions
What does representation before a notary mean?
Representation before a notary means that the lawyer drafts the document on behalf of the client, verifies the land register and the factual position of the property, negotiates disputed clauses with the other party and attends the execution of the notarial document. As the holder of a public office, the notary remains impartial and represents neither party, which makes the lawyer the only participant defending the interest of one client alone.
Is notarial processing of real estate contracts still mandatory in the Federation of BiH?
Not to the extent it once was. By judgment U-15/10 of 2 December 2015 the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH repealed Article 73 of the Law on Notaries, and by judgment U-22/16 of 6 March 2019 it also repealed provisions of five statutes that prescribed mandatory notarial processing. In its legal opinion no. 70 0 Dn 009610 22 Spp of 8 December 2022, the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH held that the signatures of the contracting parties on contracts transferring rights in real estate must be certified either before a notary or before a court, as a condition of validity for registration in the land register. In practice this means that the sale contract may be drawn up by a lawyer, the signatures certified at court, and the lawyer then carries out the land register registration, without notarial processing.
Which legal transactions must be notarially processed in Republika Srpska?
Article 57 of the Law on Notary Service of Republika Srpska sets out five groups: transactions regulating property relations between spouses and persons living in an extramarital union, disposals of the property of minors and persons lacking legal capacity, transactions by which a performance is promised as a gift, transactions whose subject is the transfer or acquisition of ownership or other rights in rem in immovable property, and the founding acts of companies. Transactions covered by that provision which are not concluded in the form of a notarially processed document are null and void. Transactions concluded between Republika Srpska and units of local self-government are excepted.
May a lawyer draft the contract that is then taken to the notary?
Yes. The law expressly allows the draft text of the document to be prepared by the parties or their legal representatives, with the notary then conducting the processing procedure. The Law on Notaries of Brčko District BiH goes a step further and states expressly that the preparation of documents for notarial processing and certification, as well as the representation of parties before notaries, may be carried out by lawyers. An identical provision was contained in Article 73 paragraph 7 of the Law on Notaries of the Federation of BiH before that article was repealed.
Can I sell or buy real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina without travelling to the country?
Yes, on the basis of a power of attorney. For clients from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries the office obtains land register extracts, prepares the contract, agrees it with the other party, attends the notary and carries out the registration, without the client having to travel to BiH even once. The entire matter is handled by email and telephone.
What must a power of attorney issued from abroad look like?
Under Article 90 of the Law on Obligations, the form prescribed for a legal transaction also applies to the power of attorney for concluding that transaction. For real estate transactions this means, in practice, a power of attorney in the same form in which the contract is concluded. A power of attorney signed abroad is certified at a diplomatic or consular mission of BiH or before a foreign notary, with an Apostille and a translation by a certified court translator. The power of attorney is drawn up in the Bosnian language and contains a precise description of the property and of the authority granted.
What is the difference between notarial processing and certification of a signature?
Notarial processing means that the document was drawn up in full by the notary in a statutory procedure, including reading, instruction on the legal consequences and signing before the notary, so it has the full evidentiary force of a public document as to the statements made before the notary. Certification of a signature is a considerably narrower act: it confirms only that a particular person signed the document, while the content remains a private document for which the notary bears no responsibility.
When does a notarially processed contract become an enforceable instrument?
When it is drawn up in respect of a claim whose subject is the payment of a specified sum of money, the delivery of a specified quantity of fungible goods or securities, and when the debtor has expressly consented in the document itself to immediate enforcement. This is regulated by Article 90 of the Law on Notaries of the Federation of BiH, Article 76 of the Law on Notary Service of Republika Srpska and Article 64 of the Law on Notaries of Brčko District BiH. The creditor then obtains an enforceable copy and initiates enforcement without prior litigation.
How much does notarial processing of a document cost?
In the Federation of BiH the notary's fee is calculated under the Tariff on Fees and Costs of Notaries of the Federation of BiH, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 40/21, and depends on the value of the subject matter of the transaction, on the time spent, or is prescribed as a fixed amount. The office provides an overview of tariff numbers and amounts on a separate page devoted to the notarial tariff. The lawyer's fee is calculated separately, under the Attorney Tariff.
Can foreigners acquire real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Yes, subject to the statutory conditions, whereby reciprocity is required for nationals of certain states and restrictions apply to some categories of land. A foreign legal entity may also acquire property by founding a company in BiH, which is a common route in practice. Before signing, the office checks whether the particular buyer can be registered as owner at all, because that obstacle otherwise surfaces only in the land register, once the purchase price has already been paid.
Who files the application for land register registration after the contract is signed?
In practice the registration is carried out for the client by the lawyer, in all three legal areas. In Republika Srpska the notary is additionally obliged, ex officio and immediately after the conclusion of a transaction transferring rights in immovable property, to file the application for registration in the public records, as prescribed by Article 59 of the Law on Notary Service of Republika Srpska. In the Federation of BiH no such statutory duty rests on the notary, so the application is filed by the lawyer as the party's attorney; in the Federation of BiH the lawyer may also complete the entire transaction without notarial processing, from drafting the sale contract, through certification of signatures at court, to registration in the land register.
What does the lawyer check before the notary appointment?
The land register extract and the cadastral data must match, and it must be established whether the seller is genuinely the registered owner and whether the property is subject to mortgages, pending registration applications, easements, notes of litigation or enforcement. The marital status and any joint marital property are examined, as are the consent of other co-owners, any pre-emption right, the designated use of the land and the regularity of the construction documentation. All of that is resolved before signing, because the notary does not examine the economic merits of the transaction.
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