What is a Notary Public?
In Northern Ireland, Notaries Public (who are solicitors appointed to that office by the Lady Chief Justice) come under the aegis of the solicitors’ branch of the legal profession but they have a number of separate and distinct functions.
The principal functions of a Notary Public are to:-
- administer oaths and affirmations,
- take affidavits and statutory declarations,
- witness and authenticate the execution of certain classes of documents,
- take acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances,
- protest notes and bills of exchange,
- provide notice of foreign drafts,
- prepare marine or ship’s protests in cases of damage,
- provide exemplifications and notarial copies,
- draw up Powers of Attorney and other legal documents customarily prepared by Notaries Public, and
- perform certain other official acts depending on the jurisdiction
