A total of 1,605 escribanos take the examination on September 1 for the Competitive Examination for Holders of the Country’s Notarial Offices, organized by the Supreme Court of Justice, initially to compete for 92 vacant notarial offices. The number of candidates is 400 higher than in the previous edition, although the number of available positions has fallen.
The written examination began at 4 p.m. and is scheduled to last two hours. It is graded that same day using optical scanners for answer sheets supplied by technicians from the Faculty of Law at the National University of Asunción. The examination score will be added to the assessment of academic merits and curricula vitae.
The process includes measures to restrict early access to the questions. The examining panel remains isolated while preparing the questions, and the examinations are sent simultaneously to the copying room on 12 USB flash drives, replacing sheet-by-sheet reproduction.
Ximena Martínez, secretary-general of the Supreme Court of Justice, said that most vacancies arise after the holders’ deaths. The list also includes offices made available by removals under final judgments, resignations and previous examinations that ended without an award.
The 92 vacancies are an initial figure and may increase before the formal award ceremony if new notarial offices become vacant while the examination is under way. Therefore, both the final number of positions and the candidates’ ranking still depend on the remaining stages.
After the examination, the Supreme Court of Justice is expected to consolidate the results with an assessment of academic merits and curricula vitae. Final scores and process updates are published on the court’s official portal, which brings together the information candidates need to follow the process.