What is a Notary Public?
What is a Notary Public?
A Notary Public is a qualified lawyer who holds a public office which is recognised internationally.
Notary Publics in England and Wales form the third and oldest branch of the legal profession in the United Kingdom.
Notary Publics are regulated through the The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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What Do Notary Publics Do?
A Notary Public’s primary function is to authenticate and certify documents for use abroad.
A Notary Public prepares Notarial Acts which are documents executed in England and Wales for use everywhere in the world. This includes authenticating legal documents and certifying signatures on documents for use outside the United Kingdom.
Although Notary Publics are primarily involved when there is an international element to a transaction or situation, a Notarial Act has been accorded greater weight as authentic evidence in England and Wales.
Notary Publics are also authorised to conduct general legal practice and in my case that would be non-contentious commercial work.
How Do You Become a Notary Public?
The usual means of qualifying as a Notary Public is to have a University degree and be a qualified solicitor.
You must then pass the two year Post-Graduate Diploma in Roman Law, Private International Law and Notarial Practice.
After this you must apply for a “Faculty” in order to practice and a newly qualified Notary Public is then supervised by an experienced Notary Public for two years.
It takes a minimum of 10 years to be a fully qualified Notary Public.
Many people consider a Notary Public’s fees to be quite high but we require a very high level of expertise and knowledge. The insurance costs and extensive studying and tuition fees are another factor.
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