A
notary public is an
officer who can administer
oaths and
statutory declarations,
witness and authenticate documents, and perform certain other acts depending on the
jurisdiction.
With the exception of Louisiana, whose private law is based on civil law rather than common law, a notary public in the United States of America has powers that are far more limited than the role of a civil law notary in the rest of the world. There are far more notaries in the United States than in other countries (4.5 million[1] , compared with 900 in England and Wales). For the purposes of authentication, most countries require commercial or personal documents which originate from or are signed in another country to be notarized before they can be used or officially recorded or before they can have any legal effect. This includes the translation of such documents done by an expert translator approved by a governmental entity.
In some countries and states, notaries are required to undergo special training in the performance of their duties. Many must also first serve as an apprentice before being commissioned or licensed to practice their profession. In many countries even licensed lawyers (such as barristers or solicitors) must go through additional specialized notarial training and apprenticeship before being allowed to practice as a notary. A notary public commissioned in the United States of America is not an attorney-at-law unless also admitted to the bar. Although some countries consider the profession of a civil law notary, itself, to be the practice of law. Many even have institutes of higher education issuing degrees in the field. In the United Kingdom, for example, a notary public can perform any task a solicitor or other lawyer can perform, as part of their notary public duties,[citation needed] with the sole exception of representing others before the courts (unless they are also a licensed barrister).
Notaries Public (also called "notaries," "notarial officers," or "public notaries") hold an office which can trace its origins back to ancient Rome, when they were called scribae, tabellius or notarius. Their work would later be transcribed correctly in its entirety by a calligraphus. They are easily the oldest continuing branch of the legal profession worldwide.
