For the purposes of this resolution and its consequent applications, the following definitions will be used:
APPEARING PARTY (APERSONADO):
It is anyone who, during the period granted for that purpose, considers themselves entitled to the procedure of refund of contributions (devolución de cuotas), to formulate claims or oppositions against it.
VOLUNTARY CESSATION OF NOTARIAL FUNCTIONS (CESE VOLUNTARIO DE FUNCIONES NOTARIALES):
It is the status of the public notary that the Directorate declares at the request of the same notary and which suspends the effectiveness of the notarial function.
CONVERSION OF CONTRIBUTIONS (CONVERSIÓN DE LOS APORTES):
Procedure by which the contributions allocated to the mandatory guarantee fund may be subject to transfer to the notary's individual voluntary account, or vice versa, as requested by the same, and proceeds in accordance with the regulations in force regarding indemnification, coverage for outstanding debts and any other element to consider, as established by the rules, directives and other pronouncements issued by the competent authorities.
THE COURT (LA CORTE):
Referring to the Judicial Branch (Poder Judicial), represented by its highest authority, the Supreme Court of Justice.
PERSONAL ACCOUNT (CUENTA PERSONAL):
It is the account where the operator records the income and interest of the contributions (cuotas) that the public notary deposits to the Guarantee Fund, in an individualized manner, in order to ensure the refund of the contributions of each notary, once the established requirements are met.
MANDATORY CONTRIBUTION (CUOTA OBLIGATORIA):
It is the compulsory monthly sum paid by every Active, Consular and State Public Notary, whose payment constitutes an essential requirement to be a notary and practice as such; established by the Directorate in accordance with the regulations in force.
VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION (CUOTA VOLUNTARIA):
It is the contribution paid voluntarily, both by the active notary and the inactive notary, to the notarial supplementary pension plan. This contribution will be –as a minimum– of the same amount as that set for the Mandatory Guarantee Fund, for the respective period and as a maximum, that which the contributor or affiliate voluntarily defines.
DIRECTORATE (DIRECCIÓN):
It is the National Directorate of Notaries, created in Law 7764. It will be referred to interchangeably as "Directorate" or "the Administrator".
GUARANTEE FUND (FONDO DE GARANTÍA):
Created by the Notarial Code, Law 7764 of April seventeenth, nineteen ninety-eight; administered by the National Directorate of Notaries, through one of the supplementary pension plan operators, legally operating in the country. With the purpose that each active notary pays contributions to it and an independent equity is gradually created. It will be generically called "Fund".
MANDATORY GUARANTEE FUND (FONDO DE GARANTÍA OBLIGATORIO):
It is called mandatory since it is an indispensable requirement to practice the notarial function. The contributions (cotizaciones) that the notary makes to it, will constitute a guarantee for the damages (daños y perjuicios) that notaries, in the exercise of their function, may cause to third parties; same that will be covered in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 9 of the Notarial Code and this Regulation.
Its income is constituted by the compulsory contributions –except the first– of all active notaries, including consular notaries and those of the State, who practice the notarial function, constituting the material means by which the coverage of eventual damages (daños y perjuicios) caused by the contributors in the exercise of the notarial function is guaranteed to third parties.
RESERVE FUND (FONDO DE RESERVA):
It is the provision of resources that the National Directorate of Notaries uses to settle the payment from what is not covered by the notary's individual account, for damages (daños y perjuicios) declared in a final judgment in accordance with the regulations in force of the Notarial and Civil Procedure Codes. It will be recorded in an account independent from that of the Guarantee Fund and will be made up of the first contribution of the active notary (including consular notaries and those of the State); the returns that these generate, and those sums that re-enter this Fund, for the recovery of payment of damages (daños y perjuicios), canceled by the Directorate, according to the final paragraph of Article 9 of the Notarial Code; as well as any other sum determined by the Administrator according to the economic possibilities of the Fund.
NOTARIAL SUPPLEMENTARY PENSION FUND (FONDO NOTARIAL DE PENSIONES COMPLEMENTARIAS):
It constitutes a fund with its own characteristics, where in order to join, one must be a notary, whether active or inactive, according to the National Registry of Notaries, who voluntarily decides to affiliate to it, with the purpose, in the future, of having a supplementary pension, benefiting from the interest and guaranteeing the contributor a sum of money after their retirement. Said fund will not be liable for damages (daños y perjuicios) caused in the exercise of the notarial function. It is composed of: a) all the voluntary individual accounts of inactive notaries who voluntarily so decide and who sign the respective contract; b) active notaries who voluntarily decide to pay contributions to it independently of the payment to the Guarantee Fund as a mandatory requirement; c) sums from a conversion or those that are transferred when the public notary ceases in their functions, and who does not wish to withdraw what was contributed to the Fund.
GENERATING EVENT OF THE INDEMNITY OBLIGATION (HECHO GENERADOR DE LA OBLIGACIÓN INDEMNIZATORIA):
It is the fraudulent, negligent or omissive conduct in which the notary incurred, duly accredited in the respective process, which gives rise to the damages (daños y perjuicios) to be indemnified.
OPERATOR (OPERADORA):
It is the supplementary pension plan operator, established in accordance with Costa Rican legislation, that is designated by the Directorate, to carry out the management work in the administration of the Fund.
NATIONAL REGISTRY OF NOTARIES (REGISTRO NACIONAL DE NOTARIOS):
It belongs to the National Directorate of Notaries and its purpose is to register and guard the entries referring to each notary, concerning the exercise of the function, the disciplinary regime and the oversight, among others. It will receive and register the information coming from the operator, as provided by the Directorate.
BASE SALARY (SALARIO BASE):
It is the one defined according to Article 2 of Law 7337, of May fifth, nineteen ninety-three.
SUPEN:
Superintendency of Pensions. State entity in charge of the oversight of supplementary pension operators.
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FUND: