Notaryship from past to today

There is no doubt that during the adventure of advancement in scientific-technical and civilization field; the thing mainly humanity has used and been supported by is "writ". For the reason reason that notaryship is directly associated with writ, it has always seen in civilized and advanced societies throughout history. Notary and notaryship, have become public knowledge and always kept its importance as an trustworthy institution between people. In the historical process, notaryship has always kept its existence in different names and status according to structure of legal orders. In this context, a general frame will be drawn about the form of notarial deeds and notaryship in present day in this praxis; afterwards institutional structuring and understandings related with written documents and notaryship in laws of various civilizations (Sumerian- Akkadian, Babylonia, Assyria, Persian, Chinese, Indian, Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, West Roman and European) will be present with the main lines. After then, notaryship institution in Islamic civilization and comparative law ("şurut ilmi" in Ottoman Turkish) which researches written documents and presents the principals for preparing document will be mentioned in detail. In the last part, notaryship institution in Turkish law will be analyzed and especially notaryship institution in Ottoman law will be explained in detail by two headings as before Islam and after acceptance of Islam. Important legal arrangements during Turkish legal history, related with "written document and notaryship" will piece together in "Appendices" part. Key Words: Hujjat, notary ("Kâtib-i Adl" in Ottoman Turkish), Notary, Deed, Conditions ("Şurût" in Ottoman Turkish).