Резюме: The subject proposed in this article, though it seems only a matter of the history of jurisprudence, is also important in the study of issues related to domestic and foreign trade in Bessarabia, as almost all important transactions of purchase and sale in this period were made under the contracts, which should be notarized.

Before the adoption of the reform, notarial attributions were owned mainly by judicial institutions and even police authorities, that did not contribute to the efficiency and clarity of judicial proceedings. Russian statesmen were well aware of the need for reform in this area. However, a new Notarial Regulation in the Russian Empire was adopted only on 14 April 1866 within the judicial reform. The innovations only partially met the objective requirements of the development of bourgeois relations, but more reasonable project was previously rejected. Thus, the western model of separation of the notarial and judicial activities has been adopted only in part. Russian legislature was aimed at creating an independent institution with broad powers in the protection of the entrepreneurial and property rights and interests, but the reforms did not clearly defined competences in this regard. Notary rights were also granted to magistrates, namely in the field of authentication of various acts concluded between landowners and peasants.

With regard to Bessarabia, we note that by order of the Minister of Justice, the regional prosecutor, as in the other provinces of the Russian Empire, in June 1866 prepared a comprehensive report on the status of notaries in the local towns. However, the judicial reform was not yet extended to Bessarabia. Only from December 1, 1869 by the Decree of the Senate, the Notarial Regulation adopted in 1866 should have been applied in Bessarabia. Regarding the Romanian territories ceded to Russia in 1878, the notarial reform in the newly instituted Izmail Uyezd was introduced by the Decree of September 21, 1878.