La Resolution of January 16, 2023, of the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith, resolves the appeal filed against the qualification of the accidental property registrar of Arona, for which the registration of a deed of sale is suspended. The cause of said suspension lies in the unfavorable qualification of the circulation permit of the Kingdom of Spain as a means of identification of the purchasing party. This unfavorable qualification motivated the notary of Arona to file the aforementioned appeal, alleging the validity of the current circulation permit in the Kingdom of Spain on the basis of the following argument:

  1. It is a document with a portrait and signature issued by the public authority.
  2. There are other rules that admit the identification validity of the driving license: in the electoral field, in the mention of any other legal identification document in the Mercantile Registry Regulations, in postal services and in matters of prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

identity judgment

In order to resolve the appeal filed by the Arona notary, the General Directorate analyzes the value that the notarial identity judgment, which consists of identifying the grantor either by knowing him or by identifying him through documents or other legally established supplementary means.

The trial of notarial identity is regulated in article 23 of the Notary Law, and consists, as stated by the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith, in the identification of those appearing by the notary in public instruments, which must be done by the means established in the laws and regulations, exclusively and under his responsibility. . In such a way that the judgment on the identity of the grantor issued by the notary remains protected by a legal presumption that can only be challenged in court, according to the General Directorate, excluding the possibility review by the registrar.

Prior to any other consideration, we must analyze the aforementioned article 23 of the Law on Notaries, by virtue of which:

"Notaries will attest to public deeds and those acts that due to their special nature require that know the parties or having made sure of their identity by the supplementary means established in the laws and regulations.

They will be supplementary means of identification, in the absence of personal knowledge of the Notary, the following:

  1. The affirmation of two people, with civil capacity, who know the grantor and are known to the Notary, being those responsible for identification.
  2. The identification of one of the contracting parties by the other, provided that the Notary public attests to the latter.
  3. The reference to identity cards or documents with portrait and signature issued by public authorities, whose purpose is to identify people. In this case, the Notary will be responsible for the consistency of the personal data, photograph and signature stamped on the identity document shown, with those of the appearing party.
  4. The comparison of signature with the doubt of a previous public instrument in which it has been given by the notary faith of knowledge of the signatory.»

Thus, different means of identification of the appearing parties emerge from said precept, which can be specified in the following:

  • Personal knowledge of the Notary, for having the rational conviction that the appearing party is the person he claims to be.
  • Supplementary means of identification, legally established in the aforementioned article 23 of the Law of Notaries.

Identification through the circulation permit

The main question that arises in the aforementioned resource is whether the circulation permit can be considered as a supplementary means of identification under section c) of the aforementioned article 23 of the Law on Notaries. The General Directorate resolves favorably, estimating the appeal filed by the Arona notary, concluding that the circulation permit meets the same requirements as the national identity document and passport, as it contains an incorporated photograph and signature. In this sense, it is an official document, original and with a photograph and signature, issued by the public authority, which identifies the person of the driver and meets the requirements for the identification of the appearing party.

For all of the foregoing, with effect from January 16, 2023, the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith recognizes the validity of the driving license as a supplementary means of identification of those appearing.

We recommend consulting the post related to "identification documentation of the parties in a sale", where we detail in a more extended way the identification documentation of the parties and the particularities of the same, depending on whether it is a natural person with Spanish or foreign nationality or a company.