José Ángel Martínez Sanchiz re-elected President of Spanish Notaries

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On 28 November, José Ángel Martínez Sanchiz was re-elected President of the General Council of Spanish Notaries, which represents almost 3,000 notaries. Raimundo Fortuñy Marqués (Dean of the Chamber of Notaries of the Balearic Islands) was elected Vice-President.

The President indicated that the new Council will promote support for people with disabilities, in line with the New York Convention and the forthcoming reform of the Civil Code and the Civil Code of Catalonia. The Council also intends to hold a congress this year to address the issue of the elderly.

It also intends to continue with the implementation of the digitisation of the notarial public service. The General Council intends to work on the possibility for public authorities to execute certain notarial acts remotely by videoconference via an online notarial platform, to which the general public will have access. The aim is that certain common notarial acts can be performed without having to visit a notary’s office. He also wants to give citizens the possibility of having an authentic electronic copy of their notarial deed, which they can take with them on their mobile phone if they wish. Another priority objective will be the response and support offered to entrepreneurs and businessmen, both in terms of setting up and managing their businesses and the decisions they will have to make sooner or later with a view to succession or transfer. Finally, it stresses the need to support cooperation, as recognised by the FATF, in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

José Ángel Martínez Sanchiz has been a notary since August 1979 and has practised in Madrid since March 1983. He has held several institutional positions, having been elected for the first time President of the General Council of Notaries in December 2016. He is also an academician member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation.

Raimundo Fortuñy Marqués has been a notary since 1987 and has been practising in Calviá, Majorca, since August 1997. He has been re-elected Dean of the Chamber of Notaries of the Balearic Islands three times and has been a member of the Permanent Commission of the General Council of Notaries for two years.