The Code of Professional Ethics for Notaries adopted by the National Chamber of Notaries (Krajowa Rada Notarialna) includes competition restricting clause – stated the President of UOKiK. The Office interferes in the sector of professional services again.

The proceedings against the National Chamber of Notaries were initiated in May 2009. The Office questioned the provision of the Code of Professional Ethics for Notaries which allows notaries to open their offices in a building where another notary’s office already operates provided that the National Chamber of Notaries has granted its consent. Every notary running their own office is an obligatory member of the National Chamber of Notaries and has to comply with the code adopted by the chamber.

The information gathered by UOKiK shows that the regional chambers of notaries repeatedly refused to give their consent to another notary's office to be opened in the same building. In fact, it was possible on condition that the notary running his/her office in a given place should express his consent. According to the President of the Office this provision resulted in restriction of competition among notaries. Some of them could not easily access the market since it was impossible for them to compete for clients with notaries already running their offices in a given place, which also affected potential consumers of notary services. Their choice of notary's offices was limited, in particular in case of notary's offices located in the vicinity of property developer companies’ offices or courts.

Pursuant to the Act on competition and consumer protection, any agreements which have as their object or effect elimination, restriction or any other infrigement of competition shall be prohibited. The term “agreements” shall mean also resolutions or other acts of associations of undertakings, or their statutory organs. The maximum financial penalty which may be imposed upon the undertaking for violating competition law amounts up to 10% of its revenue earned in the accounting year preceding the year of the issuance of the decision.

The fine imposed on the National Chamber of Notaries amounted to PLN 35,114. Apart from the fine, the President of UOKiK also imposed on the chamber the obligation to change the questioned clause. The decision is not final. The National Chamber of Notaries may lodge an appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Notary services belong to the group of professional services (liberal professions) which involve high level of self-regulation, restrictions concerning profession access barriers, the permitted pattern of market behaviour or organisational forms of conducting business activity. UOKiK continually monitors the sector of professional services and reacts when violation of competition occurs. What raises the Office’s doubts are particularly provisions laid down in the regulations, concerning the remuneration for rendered professional services. According to UOKiK, authoritative establishing the amount of fees for the services by corporations is equivalent to participating in a cartel and poses a threat to competition on the market. The Office has undertaken actions in this respect, including the two concerning architects’ self-government. In a decision issued in 2002, the Office stated that the provision of the statute of the National Chamber of Architects obliging its members to apply specific provisions on establishing minimum prices for their work was a competition restricting practice. Whereas in 2006 the Office questioned the provisions of the internal regulations which forbade architects to take part in contests and tenders where the price was the main selection criterion. The earlier activities of the self-government of notaries also came under scrutiny of UOKiK. In 2002 the President of the Office deemed as illegal the provision added to the Code of Professional Ethics for Notaries which defined “attracting clients by way of proposing them lower remuneration for notary's services as a sign of unfair competition and its particularly apparent example.” At present, owing to the actions of the Office, the self-governments of both architects and notaries do not apply the questioned clauses anymore.

Apart from imposing fines and obliging to cease certain practices, UOKiK also analyzes phenomena appearing on various markets, which results in elaborating reports on surveys. They indicate the development of competition in a given sector and may provide the basis for intervention of the antitrust authority. An example of such works is a report on energy industry. In the document we indicated recommendations for development of the energy market and proposed specific changes with a view to introducing efficient competition in the sector.

Similar research was conducted also in the sector of professional services. The last one concerned the profession of architect and construction engineer. According to the Office’s examination, Poland has one of the most restrictive provisions concerning access to the profession of architect compared to other countries of the European Union (e.g. regarding the obligatory education and professional practice of future architects which lasts five and three years respectively, along with the obligatory membership in a professional chamber which conducts the examination for the candidates). According to UOKiK, what is necessary for the functioning of the market of professional services and development of unrestricted competition within this sector is, i.a. limitation of the exclusive control of corporations over the examination for candidates applying for the professional title.

Recommendations concerning amendments to legal provisions were among issues raised during the debate entitled “Beneficiaries of regulation – consumers or professional corporations – liberal professions even more liberal,” held by UOKiK and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily on 21st April 2010. Guest participants of the debate were the President of UOKiK Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel as well as experts on the regulation of the professional services market and representatives of professional self-governments.

Additional information the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland
Phone: (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWFsZ29yemF0YS5jaWVsb2NoQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

Branch Office of UOKiK in Warsaw
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone: (+48 22) 826 89 54
faks (+48 22) 827 67 41
E-mail: [SCODE]d2Fyc3phd2FAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE]