Can you explain the roles of the notaio and the avvocato in Italy?
Answer: With pleasure. The notaio (notary is the nearest translation) in Italy has much wider powers and responsibilities than in common law countries such as the U.S., the U.K. or Australia and is a legally trained professional specialising in documentary transactions.
Notaries are independent professionals yet they have a public function and are empowered by the state. They are vested with important powers and public authority to cover a broad spectrum of functions from drafting, approving, authenticating, notarising and registering legal documents. Notaries have a legal duty to ensure that all entries in the public registers are correct.
Not only do they have to verify and guarantee the identities and bona fides of all parties who appear before them to conclude a business transaction, they must also make sure that all parties fully understand the legal effects of the transaction in question, that the wording in the documents is not ambiguous and that it reflects their intentions.
Being a public official, a notary cannot represent a client the same way as an avvocato can and therefore will not be able to advise on the specific merits of a purchase or contract. Being an avvocato (I’ll use the word lawyer from now on) involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services.
These lawyers form the backbone of the legal system linking it to society in numerous ways. They hold positions of great responsibility and are obliged to adhere to a strict code of ethics. Lawyers represent one of the parties in criminal and civil trials by presenting evidence and arguing in court to support their client. They also counsel their clients about their legal rights and obligations and suggest a particular course of action in business and personal matters.
They apply the law to the specific circumstances faced by their client. The more detailed aspects of a lawyer’s job depend upon his or her field of specialization and position. Although all lawyers are licensed to represent parties in court, some appear in court more frequently than others. Those who specialize in criminal law must be able to think quickly and speak with ease and authority. In addition, familiarity with courtroom rules and strategy is particularly important in trial work. Lawyers may specialize in a number of areas such as bankruptcy, international or environmental law.
Most of them are in a private practice concentrating on criminal or civil law. In criminal law, lawyers represent individuals who have been charged with crimes and argue their cases in a court of law. Those dealing with civil law assist clients with litigation, wills, trusts, contracts, mortgages, titles and leases. Other lawyers handle only public interest cases civil or criminal concentrating on particular causes and choosing cases that might have an impact on the way the law is applied. Lawyers must be geographically mobile and able to reach their clients, so they might use electronic filing, web and video-conferencing and voice-recognition technology to share information more effectively. Ilaria Cipriani is 25, Anglo-Italian (Italian father, British mother) and studied law at Pisa University where she was awarded an honours degree. She now works in a busy law practice in criminal law, civil law and international commercial law. She will be happy to answer any legal questions you may wish to ask.
Email ilariacipriani3@ virgilio.it, write to her at Studio Legale Treggi, Corso Garibaldi 26, 55100 Lucca, or contact her through Grapevine. Knight and Frank, the international real estate agent handling first class properties across the world, now has an office in Lucca! On Friday 18 April they gave a cocktail party at Villa Boccella, Saltocchio, with around 300 people attending, to celebrate the launch of their joint association with Ser.Imm srl located in Via della Fratta 19 in Lucca. Jennifer Gale, one of the people in charge of this new venture, is available at her email address jenny@serimm.net or cell +39 3488802005. To visit their website go to www.serimm.net “
Category: Save Money
Tuscany Creative Ways to Save Money on Travel
Want to get away without breaking the bank? I share a very friendly ways to help you spend more time enjoying yourself and less time worrying about money. Incredible but ture! Just be in touch with me, rent Villa al Boschiglia or Casale Sodini and enjoy my Senior Concierge service to save your money travelling around Tuscany.
Have a look!
Want to get away without breaking the bank? I share a very friendly ways to help you spend more time enjoying yourself and less time worrying about money. Incredible but ture! Just be in touch with me, rent Villa al Boschiglia or Casale Sodini and enjoy my Senior Concierge service to save your money travelling around Tuscany.
Have a look!
Tuscany Holiday, Does Planning Your Trip Save Money? Yes.
Every traveller has a preferred travel style. Some prefer to leave nothing to chance. Everything is booked – the hotel, the car, even the attractions – booked and paid for well in advance.
The Tuscan itinerary is clear and everyone knows the game plan.
Then there’s the spontaneous traveller, the one who wants to take what comes along, good or bad.
Most of us fall somewhere in between, isn’t it?
No problem, but the question is: does planning ahead save money? Here are some of the “yes, yes and for sure yes” answers.
Yes – Planning Ahead Saves Money
If you have zero flexibility on dates, there’s no point in waiting for a last-minute deal on anything unless you have a back-up plan. Plan ahead: get the best deal you can on a Villa or an Hotel with cancellation privileges, if (and this is important) you think it’s likely that a last-minute deal will come along. Don’t forget to cancel in sufficient time if you change to the last-minute deal.
True last-minute deals can be very inexpensive, but they come with hidden costs sometimes. For example, how much will breakfast cost in the last-minute hotel as compared to the pre-booked one? Your savings could disappear pretty quickly if the last-minute place is an expensive cab ride away from the main attractions, especially if you could have pre-booked somewhere central.
You can sometimes save money by planning and paying in advance for your non-refundable accommodation. With reputable firms this is reasonable, as you usually get a better rate than if you do not pay in advance. With firms you don’t know, be very careful!
Accommodation is often the most expensive part of your trip. Once you know what it will cost you, you can be quite specific about the other items in your budget. No surprises!
Surprises are the sort of thing that can be costly. No surprises often means no overspending.
Planning ahead also gives you time to really get the value from using a travel agent, should you choose to do so. You can shop around for an agent you feel comfortable with, and then the agent can work for you and your budget. Remember, time is money. If your time is limited, let the travel agent do what they are trained to do, to find you the best value!
More of a do-it-yourselfer? Then give yourself lots of time to shop around for the deals you want, and to become familiar with the market for whatever it is you’re buying. When you buy a car, you typically research how much cars cost, and for a couple of weeks you probably know the value of one or two models fairly well. The same goes for any type of goods or services – if you study the market for a bit, you soon find out what a reasonable price to pay is. Shoes, cars, villas or hotels, the principle is the same.
The biggest benefit of planning a tour or an holiday is that you will know how much is reasonable to spend on each element of your trip and you can lock in savings when you find them.