A. Legal framework A.1. Guatemalan laws 19. Article 4 of the Guatemalan Constitution17 establishes: ARTICLE 4. Freedom and equality. In Guatemala all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. Men and women, whatsoever their civil status, have equal opportunities and responsibilities. No one shall be subjected to servitude or to any other condition that impairs their dignity. Human beings must conduct themselves as brothers one to another. 20. And Article 146 of the Guatemalan Constitution 18 stipulates: ARTICLE 146. Naturalization. Those who obtain their naturalization pursuant to the law are Guatemalan. Naturalized Guatemalans shall have the same rights as Guatemalan nationals, subject to the limitations established in this Constitution. 21. The pertinent part of the Guatemalan Notarial Code19 (hereinafter also “the Notarial Code”) establishes: Article 1. The Notary has the legal authority to attest and authenticate the legal documents in which he intervenes pursuant to the law or at the request of a party. [Translator’s note: hereafter also “attestation authority.”] Article 2. To exercise the profession of Notary, it is necessary: a. To be Guatemalan by birth, at least 18 years of age, a lay person, and domiciled in the Republic, subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 6. b. To have obtained the required university degree in the Republic or document of incorporation pursuant to the law. c. To have registered the required university degree or document of incorporation before the Supreme Court of Justice, together with the signature and seal that will be used with the usual first and last names. d. To be of recognized integrity Article 54. Notaries are able to authenticate signatures when these are written or acknowledged in their presence. They are also able to authenticate photocopies, photostats, and other copies prepared using similar procedures, provided these have been processed, copied or reproduced, as applicable, from the original, in the presence of the authenticating notary. Article 60. The notary, in the acts in which he intervenes pursuant to the law or at the request of a party, shall prepare an official notarial record in which he shall record the acts he witnesses and the circumstances of which he is aware. 22. The Law Regulating Notarial Procedures in Matters of Voluntary Jurisdiction stipulates: WHEREAS: Notaries, as auxiliaries of the judiciary, provide effective collaboration to the courts, through their authority to attest documents in the processing of procedural acts; […] Therefore, it is appropriate to expand the function of the notary to enable him to intervene in the different acts in which there is no dispute to facilitate the execution of civil acts[.]20 17 Cf. 1985 Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, article 146 (evidence file, folios 2192 to 2286). 18 Cf. 1985 Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, article 146, supra. Cf. Notarial Code, Decree No. 314 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, articles 1, 2 and 54 (evidence file, folios 1384 to 1417). 19 Cf. Law Regulating Notarial Procedures in Matters of Voluntary Jurisdiction, Decree No. 54-77 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala (evidence file, folios 2550 to 2559). 20 7