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Public Notary |
Peter McNamara of our office has recently been appointed a Public Notary by Justice McClellan, Chief Judge at Common Law in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. |
A Public Notary is an officer of the law whose function is similar to an international Justice of the Peace. All Public Notaries are required to be admitted legal practitioners who have been practicing for 5 years and have an unblemished record as approved by the Legal Profession Admission Board. |
The most common function of a Public Notary is to notarise documents, or complete Notarial Certificates of documents that are required in foreign countries. Each Notary Public has an official Notarial Seal and this seal is in a form that is unique to each Notary. The Notarial Seal is used by the Notary in completing the notarising (execution, witnessing or certification) of documents. |
Furthermore, a Public Notary has the legal capacity to:
- attest deeds, contracts and other instruments that are to be used in most countries outside Australia;
- give a "Certificate of Due Execution" of documents. This Certificate, if duly authenticated by the Notary's signature and official Notarial Seal, is accepted in all countries where Notarial Acts are recognised, as proof of the acts done in the Notary's presence and attested by the Notary;
- draw up "Ship's protests" or other formal papers relating to occurrences on ship's voyages and navigation of ships as well as the carriage of cargo in ships; and
- attest some other documents under specific legislation for use in the States and Territories, and the Commonwealth of Australia.
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| A Public Notary is required to keep and maintain a Notarial Register of all Notarial Acts. |
A Public Notary is entitled to, and usually does, charge fees for undertaking all Notarial Acts. However, Notaries usually charge at rates equivalent to their usual hourly commercial charge for the time involved. |
If you would like a document notarised, or if you need a Notarial Certificate, these are available by making an appointment at our Sydney Office telephone number (02) 9299 2223 or contacting Peter McNamara directly at peter.mcnamara@cmlawyers.com.au |
