Comparative analysis of the education of scribes, notaries, and lawyers in Colombia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand why the notarial right did
not obtain total independence as a law discipline in Colombia until
1970. The investigation is conducted using comparative tracking of the
education of lawyers, scribes and notaries, in order to understand the
specific weight of notarial activity in premodern or modern societies in
conflict solution or the regulation of private interests, as a function of the
state. A comparison is made between notarial practice as an alternative
to legal practice in preventive justice and when it appears as a solution
to the outdated argument of political power as the exercise of legitimate
violence, or as an arbiter of citizens’ interests after restraint. This paper
is part of a doctoral thesis entitled “The social function of the notary
in post-secular society,” within the doctoral program of the Network
of Public Universities of Colombia (Red De Universidades Públicas de
Colombia), which is part of the Universidad de Tolima.