100+ Free Notariat CI Practice Questions

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Key Facts: Notariat CI Exam

Loi n° 2018-897

Statute of 30 November 2018 governing the notarial profession in Côte d'Ivoire

Journal Officiel de la République de Côte d'Ivoire

Décret n° 2020-764

Implementing decree of 30 September 2020 for the statute of the notariat

Ministère de la Justice et des Droits de l'Homme

25 years

Minimum age to sit the notaire professional examination

Arrêté d'ouverture de l'examen professionnel de notaire

2 or 6 years

Clerkship required: 2 years as clerc de première catégorie or 6 years as clerc

Arrêté d'ouverture de l'examen professionnel de notaire

3 papers of 4 hours

Written admissibility papers, each with coefficient 4

Arrêté d'ouverture de l'examen professionnel de notaire

75,000 FCFA

Examination registration fee payable to the INFJ

Arrêté d'ouverture de l'examen professionnel de notaire 2024

28 of 90

Candidates admitted at the 2020 notaire session, against 8 in 2019

Ministère de la Justice et des Droits de l'Homme

ACD

Arrêté de Concession Définitive — urban land title

Ministère de la Construction et de l'Urbanisme

Free 100-question English MCQ study bank for the Côte d'Ivoire notaire professional exam. The official assessment is three 4-hour written papers plus three oral tests, in French.

Sample Notariat CI Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your Notariat CI exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Under Loi n° 2018-897 du 30 novembre 2018 portant statut du notariat in Côte d'Ivoire, which of the following best defines the legal status and core mission of a Notaire?

A.A public officer (officier public) appointed by presidential decree to confer authenticity on acts and contracts, ensure date certainty, conserve minutes, and deliver executory copies

B.An independent attorney-at-law (avocat) registered at the Bar authorized to certify private deeds through judicial homologation

C.A sworn ministerial bailiff (huissier de justice) tasked primarily with serving judicial writs and executing court judgments

D.A municipal civil registrar (officier de l'état civil) exercising administrative functions within the territorial commune

Explanation: Under Article 1 of Loi n° 2018-897, notaries are public officers (officiers publics) established to receive all acts and contracts to which parties must or wish to confer the character of authenticity, to assure the date thereof, maintain custody of the minutes (minutes), and deliver certified authentic and executory copies (grosses et expéditions).

2What two foundational legal attributes are conferred by law upon an authentic instrument (acte notarié) drafted by a licensed Notaire in Côte d'Ivoire?

A.Advisory probative value requiring judicial confirmation, and priority registration at the tax registry

B.Full probative force (force probante jusqu'à inscription de faux) regarding facts witnessed by the notary, and direct executory force (force exécutoire) without prior court judgment

C.Simple rebuttable presumption of accuracy (présomption simple) and conditional enforceability subject to debtor approval

D.Absolute judicial immunity for signatory parties and automatic exemption from land registration fees

Explanation: An authentic notarial act possesses two foundational legal qualities: (1) Force probante (it makes authentic proof of facts personally verified and certified by the notary until proven forged via inscription de faux), and (2) Force exécutoire (bearing the formule exécutoire, it allows direct forced execution like a court judgment without needing a preliminary lawsuit).

3In Ivorian urban land tenure, what is the legal nature and effect of the 'Arrêté de Concession Définitive' (ACD) issued by the Minister of Construction and Urbanism?

A.A provisional letter of attribution (lettre d'attribution) granting occupancy rights revocable by the municipal mayor at will

B.A temporary administrative lease (bail emphytéotique administratif) granting usage rights for a fixed term of 25 years

C.The unique administrative title that transfers full freehold property ownership (pleine propriété) on urban State private domain land, enabling the issuance of a definitive Land Title (Titre Foncier)

D.A customary land certificate (certificat foncier rural) issued by village elders confirming customary agricultural occupancy

Explanation: Under the land reform legislation of Côte d'Ivoire (Ordonnance n° 2013-481), the Arrêté de Concession Définitive (ACD) is the unique administrative title that transfers full freehold property ownership of urban land from the State private domain to a private owner, leading to the creation and registration of a definitive Land Title (Titre Foncier).

4Why is the intervention of a Notaire strictly mandatory under Ivorian law for real estate transfers involving registered land titles (immeubles immatriculés)?

A.The notaire acts as the commercial sales agent representing the exclusive seller in market negotiations

B.Notarisation is an optional formality recommended solely for obtaining bank mortgage financing

C.A private agreement (acte sous seing privé) certified by a municipal police commissioner produces the same land registration effects as a notarial deed

D.Real estate conveyances over titled land are solemn contracts that must be authenticated by a notaire to be published in the Livre Foncier on pain of absolute nullity

Explanation: Under the Land Registration Decree and Loi n° 2018-897, all transfers, sales, gifts, and mortgages over titled real estate (immeubles immatriculés) must be drafted in authentic notarial form (acte notarié) on pain of absolute nullity, which is an absolute condition for registration in the Livre Foncier.

5Under the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE), what is the purpose of the 'Déclaration Notariée de Souscription et de Versement' (DNSV)?

A.An annual corporate income tax declaration submitted to the Direction Générale des Impôts

B.A formal commercial lease agreement entered into between the company and the property lessor

C.An authentic notarial act certifying that the founders have subscribed to all corporate shares and effectively paid up the required capital deposited in escrow

D.A certificate of judicial non-conviction issued by the court registry for each managing director

Explanation: Under Article 314 of the OHADA AUSCGIE, the DNSV is an authentic notarial instrument by which the notary verifies and certifies that all share subscriptions have been legally completed and that the corresponding monetary capital funds have been effectively deposited into the notary's escrow account (or bank), a mandatory step for corporate registration at the RCCM.

6What is the statutory minimum share capital required to incorporate a non-listed Société Anonyme (SA) under Article 387 of the OHADA AUSCGIE?

A.1,000,000 FCFA

B.5,000,000 FCFA

C.50,000,000 FCFA

D.10,000,000 FCFA

Explanation: Under Article 387 of the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups (AUSCGIE), the minimum share capital for incorporating a Société Anonyme (SA) is strictly fixed at 10,000,000 FCFA (ten million FCFA), divided into shares of a nominal value not less than 10,000 FCFA (or 1,000 FCFA under modern revised rules).

7Under Ivorian matrimonial law (Loi n° 2019-570 du 26 juin 2019 relative au mariage), what are the two statutory matrimonial regimes available to marrying spouses?

A.La communauté universelle and le régime dotal avec clause d'inaliénabilité

B.La communauté de biens (community of property) and la séparation de biens (separation of property)

C.La participation aux acquêts and le régime de l'indivision conventionnelle intégrale

D.Le régime sans communauté avec attribution exclusive d'administration au mari

Explanation: Under the Ivorian Marriage Law of 2019, spouses choose at the time of marriage celebration (or by prior notarial marriage contract) between two regimes: the régime de la communauté de biens (assets acquired during marriage are jointly owned) or the régime de la séparation de biens (each spouse retains exclusive ownership and administration of their own assets).

8What is the legal presumption if spouses in Côte d'Ivoire do not execute a prenuptial notarial contract and make no express choice of regime before the civil registrar?

A.They are automatically governed by the regime of séparation de biens to preserve individual patrimonies

B.Their marital property is placed under judicial receivership until a notarial deed is signed

C.The marriage is considered a union under customary law without civil property consequences

D.They are deemed by operation of law to be married under the statutory default regime of 'Communauté de biens'

Explanation: Under Ivorian marriage legislation, in the absence of an explicit option chosen by the spouses in a notarial marriage contract or declared before the civil registrar (officier de l'état civil), the legal default regime (régime légal de droit commun) is the Communauté de biens.

9Under the Ivorian Law on Successions (Loi n° 2019-573 du 26 juin 2019), what is the statutory inheritance share of the surviving spouse when the deceased leaves surviving children?

A.The surviving spouse receives one-half (1/2) in full ownership, and children share the remaining half

B.The surviving spouse receives only a lifetime usufruct (usufruit viager) over the marital home

C.The surviving spouse receives one-fourth (1/4) of the estate in full ownership, with three-fourths (3/4) divided equally among the children

D.The surviving spouse receives no ownership share but holds a priority maintenance claim (créance alimentaire)

Explanation: Under Article 25 of Loi n° 2019-573 relative aux successions, the children or their descendants and the surviving spouse succeed to the deceased: the children take three quarters of the estate, shared equally without distinction of sex or birth order, and the surviving spouse takes one quarter in full ownership (pleine propriété). Where there are no children, the surviving spouse takes one half alongside the other heirs.

10What is the 'Réserve Héréditaire' in Ivorian succession law and how does it restrict testamentary freedom?

A.A mandatory fraction of the estate reserved by public policy for protected heirs (descendants), which the deceased cannot dispose of by lifetime gifts or testamentary bequests

B.A discretionary fund set aside by the notary to settle estate debts and administrative funeral costs

C.A tax escrow account retained by the Conservation Foncière during real estate registration

D.The portion of the estate that a testator is completely free to bequeath to unrelated third parties or charities

Explanation: The réserve héréditaire is a fundamental public policy rule of succession law reserving a protected portion of the estate for forced heirs (héritiers réservataires: children and descendants). The testator cannot dispose of this fraction through donations or wills, leaving only the 'quotité disponible' for freely chosen beneficiaries.

About the Notariat CI Exam

The examen professionnel de notaire is the qualifying examination for admission to the notarial profession in Côte d'Ivoire. Governed by Loi n° 2018-897 du 30 novembre 2018 portant statut du notariat and its implementing Décret n° 2020-764 du 30 septembre 2020, notaries are public officers (officiers publics) commissioned by the state to confer authenticity on contracts, deeds, and declarations. They draft and preserve authentic instruments for real estate conveyancing, mortgages, matrimonial property contracts, and estate administration. The examination is open to experienced notarial clerks — two years as a clerc de première catégorie or six years as a clerc — who hold a maîtrise or master in law, and it tests civil law (marriage under Loi n° 2019-570, filiation under Loi n° 2019-571, successions under Loi n° 2019-573, and donations and wills under Loi n° 64-380), land tenure law including urban title conversions and the rural land code, OHADA Uniform Acts (AUS, AUDSCGIE), notarial tariffs, and professional ethics and accounting. Successful candidates are appointed by arrêté of the Minister of Justice, which fixes their place of residence. A separate concours direct and examen professionnel govern access to the post of clerc de première catégorie. The official examination is conducted in French. This 100-question bank provides an English-language MCQ study adaptation.

Assessment

The examen professionnel de notaire is opened by arrêté of the Minister of Justice, with the programme and rules set on the proposal of the Chambre des Notaires under Loi n° 2018-897 du 30 novembre 2018 portant statut du notariat and Décret n° 2020-764 du 30 septembre 2020. Candidature files are lodged with the Direction des Services Judiciaires et des Ressources Humaines of the Ministry of Justice. The written admissibility phase consists of three papers of four hours each, all with coefficient 4: a legal dissertation, the drafting of notarial deeds, and a case study on notarial practice. Candidates may use codes and statute compilations for the last two papers, and any mark of 5/20 or below is eliminatory. Admissible candidates then sit three oral tests before the examination jury, each of 15 minutes with coefficient 2 and 15 minutes of preparation: an interrogation on a topic drawn by lot covering judicial organisation, the statute and deontology of the notaire, notarial tariffs, or the keeping of registers; an interrogation on the law of persons and the law of obligations; and an exposé in the form of a legal consultation or practical case. Official examinations are sat in French. This bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.

Time Limit

12 hours of written admissibility papers plus three 15-minute oral tests

Passing Score

Jury ranking on the weighted written and oral marks; any written mark of 5/20 or below is eliminatory. 28 of 90 candidates passed the 2020 session and 8 were admitted in 2019

Exam Fee

75,000 FCFA registration fee payable to the Institut National de Formation Judiciaire (2024 session) (Ministère de la Justice et des Droits de l'Homme, with the programme proposed by the Chambre des Notaires de Côte d'Ivoire)

Notariat CI Exam Content Outline

30% of our practice bank

Matrimonial Property and Successions

Matrimonial regimes under Loi n° 2019-570 du 26 juin 2019 relative au mariage, liquidation and partition of community property, intestate succession under Loi n° 2019-573 du 26 juin 2019 relative aux successions, wills and liberalities under Loi n° 64-380 du 7 octobre 1964, and forced heirship (réserve héréditaire).

25% of our practice bank

Land Tenure and Real Estate Law

Ivorian land tenure legislation (Code foncier rural, Arrêté de Concession Définitive — ACD), land registration (livre foncier), sales of real estate, co-ownership, and authentic deed drafting.

25% of our practice bank

OHADA Security Interests and Corporate Deeds

OHADA Uniform Act on Security Interests (AUS): Mortgages (hypothèques), pledges (gages et nantissements), corporate statutes, commercial leases (bail commercial), and company formations.

20% of our practice bank

Notarial Deontology and Professional Practice

Loi n° 2018-897 portant statut du notariat, authentic instruments (force probante et force exécutoire), professional secrecy, notarial accounting and escrow (fonds de tiers), and professional liability.

How to Pass the Notariat CI Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: Jury ranking on the weighted written and oral marks; any written mark of 5/20 or below is eliminatory. 28 of 90 candidates passed the 2020 session and 8 were admitted in 2019
Assessment: The examen professionnel de notaire is opened by arrêté of the Minister of Justice, with the programme and rules set on the proposal of the Chambre des Notaires under Loi n° 2018-897 du 30 novembre 2018 portant statut du notariat and Décret n° 2020-764 du 30 septembre 2020. Candidature files are lodged with the Direction des Services Judiciaires et des Ressources Humaines of the Ministry of Justice. The written admissibility phase consists of three papers of four hours each, all with coefficient 4: a legal dissertation, the drafting of notarial deeds, and a case study on notarial practice. Candidates may use codes and statute compilations for the last two papers, and any mark of 5/20 or below is eliminatory. Admissible candidates then sit three oral tests before the examination jury, each of 15 minutes with coefficient 2 and 15 minutes of preparation: an interrogation on a topic drawn by lot covering judicial organisation, the statute and deontology of the notaire, notarial tariffs, or the keeping of registers; an interrogation on the law of persons and the law of obligations; and an exposé in the form of a legal consultation or practical case. Official examinations are sat in French. This bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.
Time limit: 12 hours of written admissibility papers plus three 15-minute oral tests
Exam fee: 75,000 FCFA registration fee payable to the Institut National de Formation Judiciaire (2024 session)

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Notariat CI Study Tips from Top Performers

1Master intestate succession under Loi n° 2019-573 du 26 juin 2019: children and descendants take three quarters, the surviving spouse takes one quarter alongside children or one half alongside other heirs, and each heir has five years to accept, accept under benefit of inventory, or renounce.

2Understand the formalities of authentic deed drafting: date, full identity, reading of the deed (lecture faite), Annexes, and simultaneous signing by parties and notary.

3Study the urban land titling chain in Côte d'Ivoire: Lettre d'Attribution -> ACD -> Morcellement -> Inscription au Livre Foncier.

4Review the OHADA Uniform Act on Security Interests (AUS): conventional mortgages, publication at the Land Registry, priority of ranking, and purge of encumbrances.

5Familiarize yourself with statutory notarial deontology: incompatibility with commercial activities, mandatory client escrow accounting, professional civil liability, and anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) reporting to CENTIF.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of a Notaire in Côte d'Ivoire?

A Notaire is a public officer (officier public) appointed by arrêté of the Minister of Justice to draft, authenticate, and preserve legal instruments (actes authentiques), ensuring their enforceability and legal certainty in property, corporate, and family law.

What are the eligibility requirements for the Notaire professional examination?

Candidates must be Ivorian nationals aged at least 25, hold a maîtrise or master in law, have served at least 2 years as a clerc de première catégorie or 6 years as a clerc in a notary's office, and be registered on the official clerks' registers.

What are the written papers of the notaire examination?

Three papers of four hours each, all with coefficient 4: a legal dissertation, the drafting of notarial deeds, and a case study on notarial practice. Codes and statute compilations are allowed for the last two papers, and any mark of 5/20 or below is eliminatory.

What legal value does an acte authentique have in Côte d'Ivoire?

An acte notarié (authentic instrument) possesses prima facie evidentiary force regarding facts witnessed by the notary (force probante jusqu'à inscription de faux), a certain date (date certaine), and direct executory force (force exécutoire) without needing a prior court judgment.

What is the Arrêté de Concession Définitive (ACD) in Ivorian land law?

The ACD is the unique administrative land title issued by the Ministry of Construction and Urbanism that confers full and definitive freehold ownership on urban state domain land, registered in the Conservation Foncière (livre foncier).

Is this practice test the official Notaire examination?

No. The official examination is administered in French by the Ministry of Justice and Chambre des Notaires. This 100-question bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.