Luxembourg law tackles job discrimination

(JB) A new law spells good news for non-Luxembourg nationals who are now permitted to work as notaries in Luxembourg.

Thanks to a bill adopted on Wednesday, which was supported by the Court of Justice, the role is no longer exclusive to native residents.

Notaries perform the function of a legal clerk or secretary, conferring the right to certify a document's validity and witness signatures.

The Court of Justice deemed that the role could not be considered as a public authority function and concluded that therefore excluding non-nationals from the role was discriminatory.

However, the law makes a language clause, requiring that all notaries have an adequate knowledge of the country's three official languages: French, German and Luxembourgish.

The move follows a gradual shift in making jobs which were traditionally exclusive to Luxembourg nationals accessible to non-nationals.

Already, non-Luxembourg nationals may stand and vote in communal elections, provided that they have lived in the country for five years (and in the commune for more than six months if standing as a candidate).