Notary public

A notary's main functions are to validate the signature of a person (for purposes of signing a document); administer oaths and affirmations; take affidavits and statutory declarations, including from witnesses; authenticate the execution of certain classes of documents; take acknowledgments (e.g., of deeds and other conveyances); provide notice of foreign drafts; provide exemplifications and notarial copies; and, to perform certain other official acts depending on the jurisdiction.

Notaries are generally required to undergo special training in the performance of their duties, often culminating in an examination and ongoing education/re-examination upon commission renewal.

In some countries, even licensed lawyers, e.g., barristers or solicitors, must follow a prescribed specialized course of study and be mentored for two years before being allowed to practice as a notary (e.g., British Columbia, England).

However, notaries public in the U.S., of which the vast majority are lay people, require only a brief training seminar and are expressly forbidden to engage in any activities that could be construed as the unlicensed practice of law unless they are also qualified attorneys.

The United States is a notable exception to these practices: lawyer-notaries need only be approved by their jurisdiction and possibly by a local court or bar association.

In bi-juridical jurisdictions, such as South Africa or Louisiana, the office of notary public is a legal profession with educational requirements similar to those for attorneys.

In the last century of the Republic, probably in the time of Cicero, and apparently by his adoptive son Marcus Tullius Tiro, after whom they were named 'notae Tironianae' a new form of shorthand was invented and certain arbitrary marks and signs, called notae, were substituted for words in common use.

Later, the title notarius was applied almost exclusively to registrars attached to high government officials, including provincial governors and secretaries to the Emperor.

Notwithstanding the collapse of the Western Empire in the 5th century AD, the notary remained a figure of some importance in many parts of continental Europe throughout the Dark Ages.

In the course of time, members of the clergy ceased to take part in secular business and laymen, especially in towns and trading centers, began to assume the official character and functions of a modern common law notary.

However, in 1533 the enactment of "the Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations" (the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533) terminated the power of the Pope to appoint notaries and vested that power in the King who then transferred it to the Archbishop of Canterbury who in turn assigned it to the Court of Faculties and the Master of the Faculties.

Traditionally, notaries recorded matters of judicial importance as well as private transactions or events where an officially authenticated record or a document drawn up with professional skill or knowledge was required.The duties and functions of notaries public are described in Brooke's Notary on page 19 in these terms: Generally speaking, a notary public [...] may be described as an officer of the law [...] whose public office and duty it is to draw, attest or certify under his/her official seal deeds and other documents, including wills or other testamentary documents, conveyances of real and personal property and powers of attorney; to authenticate such documents under his signature and official seal in such a manner as to render them acceptable, as proof of the matters attested by him, to the judicial or other public authorities in the country where they are to be used, whether by means of issuing a notarial certificate as to the due execution of such documents or by drawing them in the form of public instruments; to keep a protocol containing originals of all instruments which he makes in the public form and to issue authentic copies of such instruments; to administer oaths and declarations for use in proceedings [...] to note or certify transactions relating to negotiable instruments, and to draw up protests or other formal papers relating to occurrences on the voyages of ships and their navigation as well as the carriage of cargo in ships."

]A notary, in almost all common law jurisdictions other than most of North America, is a practitioner trained in the drafting and execution of legal documents.

The functions of notaries specifically include the preparation of certain types of documents (including international contracts, deeds, wills, and powers of attorney) and certification of their due execution, administering of oaths, witnessing affidavits and statutory declarations, certification of copy documents, noting and protesting of bills of exchange, and the preparation of ships' protests.

It is essential that notaries in this state have a sufficient level of training, qualification and status to enable them efficiently and effectively to discharge the functions of the office.Historically there have been some very rare examples of patent attorneys or accountants being appointed, but that now seems to have ceased.

Thus a South Australian notary may have "John Smith LLB NP" or similar on his business card or letterhead.

Justices of the peace (JPs) are (usually) laypersons who have minimal, if any, training (depending on the jurisdiction) but are of proven good character.

Canadian notaries public (except in the province of British Columbia and Quebec) are very much like their American counterparts, generally restricted to administering oaths, witnessing signatures on affidavits and statutory declarations, providing acknowledgements, certifying true copies, and so forth.

"[11] Every barrister of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia is a commissioner of oaths but must receive an additional commission to act as a notary public.

The applicant, if not a legal practitioner, should be a member of the Indian Legal Service or have held an office under the central or state government, requiring special knowledge of law, after enrollment as an advocate or held an office in the department of Judge, Advocate-General or in the armed forces.

[15][16] Notary public is a trained lawyer that should pass some special examinations to be able to open their office and start their work.

In 1961, under the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act of that year, and the power to appoint notaries public became exercisable by the Chief Justice.

This remains the position in Ireland, where notaries are appointed on petition to the Supreme Court, after passing prescribed examinations.

A non-solicitor, who was successful in the examinations as set by the governing body, applied in the standard way to the Chief Justice to be appointed a notary public.

Alternatively, attorneys at law who pass the conveyancing exam are also admitted as a notary public under warrant of the Minister.

All notaries, like solicitors, barristers, legal executives, costs lawyers and licensed conveyancers, are also commissioners for oaths.

In practice the need for notaries in purely English legal matters is very small; for example they are not involved in normal property transactions.

Since 2007 an additional Practising Certificate is required, so now most, but not all, solicitors in Scotland are notaries – a significant difference from the English profession.

A considerable amount of historical data of tremendous value is available in France, Spain and Italy thanks to notarial minutes, contracts and conveyances, some of great antiquity which have survived in spite of losses, deterioration and willful destruction.

In the few United States jurisdictions where trained notaries are allowed (such as Louisiana and Puerto Rico), the practice of these legal practitioners is limited to legal advice on purely non-contentious matters that fall within the purview of a notary's reserved areas of practice.