Minutes are documents that allow the events to be officially recorded. Minutes are used to document the event as it happened, to reference it when necessary, to share information in an official and correct manner, and for legal protection. Official announcement of the incident is provided through minutes.

What is a Minute?

Keeping minutes is the process of officially recording the content of an event, a meeting, a transaction process or a conversation exactly as it is. Minutes are kept to provide protection in legal processes, to officially document the incident, to reference it as an official document in legal processes, and to accurately convey the situation.

Minutes prepared by official institutions can be signed by the police, notary, court, companies, government offices or official institutions.

How to Keep Minutes?

Since minutes are official documents, there are certain rules that must be followed when preparing them. Minute keeping procedures may have changes and different details regarding the nature and location of the event to be recorded. You can apply the following conditions as an example of how to keep minutes:

Before starting the content of the minutes, you must write the title in accordance with the rules. If there is no special situation for the incident that is the subject of the report, the title should be written in the middle of the page and in capital letters as 'MINUTES'.
After stating the nature of the incident described in the report, detailed information about the incident should be given. In addition to detailed information about the incident, how the incident information was obtained should also be included in the report.
Along with what the incident happened, where the incident occurred and information such as date and time should also be clearly stated.
If there is evidence that can be considered as evidence regarding the event mentioned in the report, these should also be added to the report. Information on how the evidence was obtained should also be included in the report.
If the minutes will take up more than one page, the back of the pages should be left blank and new pages should be numbered.
Wet signatures of the people whose information is included in the minutes are also required. Minutes without signatures are not valid.

Things to Consider While Preparing the Minutes

Since minutes are official documents, certain templates and rules must be followed when preparing minutes. Important points in preparing minutes are as follows:

It should be prepared on A4 or A5 papers.
The title of the minutes should be written in capital letters in the middle of the page.
The date and time of the incident, details about how the incident occurred and how the incident was learned should be included in detail.
Evidence regarding the incident must also be included in the report.
The identity information of the people named in the minutes must also be included.
At the end of the minutes, the date and time the minutes were kept and the signatures of the persons mentioned should be included so that the ending is clear.

What is the use of minutes?

Minutes are kept as they are official documents in cases where the incident needs to be reported. Minutes serve as legal and legal protection for the events that occurred, as a reference for the managerial situations of the enterprise and employee-employer relations. In order for the minutes to be presented as official documents and to be useful for the incident, they must be prepared with real information and care. Minutes can be used as official documents for different events and purposes. We can list the benefits of keeping minutes as follows:

They provide legal protection by using the minutes kept by the court, notary, official offices or public institutions as evidence in legal processes.
In cases where sanctions or criminal proceedings are required, the minutes are presented in the courts as official documents regarding the process of the incident.
In business institutions, minutes can be kept to keep details of the content of meetings and discussions. These minutes may be used in future decisions.
Minutes kept in workplaces can be kept in order to protect the employer and employee in legal processes regarding workplace events.

How to Keep Minutes According to Their Situation?

In cases where the incident needs to be recorded, minutes can be kept, albeit in different areas. Minutes can be kept for business life, education and health status, and legal or criminal proceedings. In case of problematic situations in hospital examinations and treatments, a report can be kept for health status, a report for punishments such as discipline in education life, a report for any problem in military areas or an accident in the workplace.

How to Keep a Traffic Accident Report?

Traffic accident report with material damage can be prepared in accordance with the following rules:

The report must be filled out in two copies only by the persons involved in the accident. If you are involved in an accident, it is mandatory to fill out the report even if you do not have a license.
Even though the form filled out for the minutes is a photocopy, the wet signatures of the parties must be present in the minutes.
The information in the form must be filled incompletely and the cause of the accident must be stated clearly.
Since the report will be invalid if the company and policy cannot be identified, the insurance companies and traffic policy numbers of the parties must be stated completely and accurately.
The report must be submitted to the insurance company within five business days.

How to Keep Military Reports?

In military fields, the minutes usually have a fixed template. For example, if the report is related to a disciplinary incident, a title is written as 'INDISCIPLINARY DETECTION REPORT' in the upper middle part of the report page. After stating the date, exact time and exact location of the incident, information about the incident and the names mentioned in the incident is included in the report. After the date on which the minutes were kept is stated at the end, the minutes are finalized with the wet signatures of the persons mentioned in the minutes and the person keeping the minutes.

How to Keep Student Reports?

As in other minutes, after the report title is written in capital letters, the event date, time, event details and names mentioned in the event are included. After the date of the minutes is added to the end, the minutes are finalized with the wet signatures of the student, teacher, assistant principal and principal.