Authentication of signatures outside the office of an authority

Authentication of signatures outside the office of an authority

A complainant’s husband was placed in the After-treatment and Rehabilitation Facility of the St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno-Nový Lískovec and needed authentication of his signature. The Brno-Lískovec municipal office refused to carry out authentication of the signature outside its office and referred the applicant to the registry office (the Brno-centre municipal office), but the latter also refused to perform the authentication. The deputy of the Defender opened an inquiry on the basis of the complaint. It was ascertained that the website of the Brno municipal office did not contain information on authentication outside the office; on a telephone query the municipal office gave incorrect information on the local competence of registry offices with respect to authentication. Yet the law allows for the authentication of a signature outside the office of the authority on material grounds. Based on a notification of the deputy of the Defender, the secretary of the municipal office addressed the secretaries of all the municipal offices authorized to perform the authentication agenda (including the Brno-Nový Lískovec municipal office) and asked them to treat applications for the authentication of signatures outside the office helpfully. The website of the Brno municipal office was revised and it currently furnishes an overview of the authorities which may perform authentication outside the office on material grounds. The measures adopted by the secretary of the Brno municipal council based on the prompt were found sufficient by the deputy of the Defender and the latter closed the inquiry into the complaint.