Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

NOTARY, or NOTARY PUBLIC

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 823 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

NOTARY, or NOTARY PUBLIC . In See also:Roman See also:law the notarius was originally a slave or freedman who took notes (notae) of judicial proceedings in shorthand. The See also:modern notary corresponds rather to the tabellio or tabularius than to the notarius. In See also:canon law it was a See also:maxim that his See also:evidence was See also:worth that of two unskilled witnesses. The See also:office of notary in See also:England is a very See also:ancient one. It is mentioned in the See also:Statute of Provisors, 25 See also:Edward III. stat. 4. The See also:English notary is an ecclesiastical officer, nominated, since the Peterpence Dispensations See also:Act 1533-1534, by the See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury through the See also:master of the faculties (now the See also:judge of the provincial courts of Canterbury and See also:York), in See also:order to secure evidence as to the See also:attestation of important documents. All registrars of ecclesiastical courts must be notaries. A notary's duties, however, are mainly See also:secular. " The See also:general functions of a notary consist in receiving all acts and contracts which must or are wished to be clothed with an See also:authentic See also:form; in conferring on such documents the required authenticity; in establishing their date; in preserving originals or minutes of them which, when prepared in the See also:style and with the See also:seal of the notary, obtain the name of See also:original acts; and in giving authentic copies of such acts " (See also:Brooke, On the Office of a Notary, See also:chap. iii.). The act of a notary in authenticating or certifying a document is technically called a " notarial act." In most countries the notarial act is received in evidence as a semi-judicial See also:matter, and the certificate of a notary is probative of the facts certified.

But English law does not recognize the notarial act to this extent. An English See also:

court will, in certain cases, take judicial See also:notice of the seal of a notary, but not that the facts that he has certified are true, except in the See also:case of a See also:bill of See also:exchange protested abroad. The most important See also:part of an English notary's See also:duty is the noting and protest of See also:foreign bills of exchange in case of non-See also:acceptance or non-See also:payment. This must be done by a notary in order that the holder may recover. He also prepares See also:ship See also:pro-tests and protests See also:relating to See also:mercantile matters, and authenticates and certifies copies of documents and attests See also:instruments to be sent abroad. The office of notary is now usually held by a See also:solicitor. In See also:London he must be See also:free of the Scriveners' See also:Company. In See also:Scotland, before the reign of See also:James III., papal and imperial notaries practised until the 29th of See also:November 1469, when an act was passed declaring that notaries should be made by the See also:king. It would appear, however, that for some See also:time afterwards there were in Scotland clerical and legal notaries—the instruments taken by the latter bearing faith in See also:civil matters. In 1551 an act was passed directing sheriffs to bring or send both kinds of notaries to the lords of session to be examined; and in a statute, passed in 1555, it was ordained that no notary, " by whatsoever See also:power he be created," should use the office " except he first See also:present himself to the said lords, showing his creation, and be admitted by them thereto." It does not appear that this statute vested the right of making notaries in the court of session; but in 1563 it was by law declared that no See also:person should take on him the office, under the See also:pain of See also:death, unless created by the See also:sovereign's See also:special letters, and thereafter examined and admitted by the lords of session. Since then the Court of Session has in See also:Scot-See also:land exercised exclusive authority on the See also:admission of notaries in all legal matters, spiritual and temporal. The position of notaries in Scotland is somewhat higher than it is in England.

In the See also:

United States, notaries are appointed by the See also:governors of the states, and their authority to act is limited to the See also:state to which they are appointed. They are state See also:officers, and their duties in the See also:main are attesting deeds and other instruments, and taking affidavits and depositions; all such documents which are intended to be used in the federal courts must have the notarial seal affixed. They also protest bills of exchange, and in some states they have the See also:powers of a See also:justice of the See also:peace. In See also:France, notaries receive all acts and contracts to which the parties thereto must give or See also:desire to give the authenticity attached to the acts of a public authority; they certify the date, preserve the originals and give copies or duplicates. Notaries are nominated by the See also:president of the See also:republic on the recommendation of the keeper of the See also:seals. They cannot act as notaries and practise as See also:advocates, or hold any magisterial office, nor must they engage in business. Notaries are divided into three classes: those of towns which have a court of See also:appeal; those of towns which have a court of first instance; those of the other towns and communes. The first and second classes can practise wherever the See also:jurisdiction of their courts extends; the third class only in their See also:canton. They must obtain the See also:sanction of the See also:minister of justice should they desire to See also:change from one See also:district to another. They must serve an See also:apprenticeship of six years (with exceptions) to a notary of the class to which they desire to belong. Every notary is See also:bound in a certain sum fixed by the See also:government as See also:security for the due See also:discharge of his duties. Since 1896 the remuneration of the more important classes of notaries has been regulated by law.

Each district has a chamber of notaries, which exercises disciplinary powers over its members. In See also:

Germany, notaries are appointed by the president of the courts of law and the minister of justice in their respective states; they carry on their profession for their own benefit, and do not, except in See also:Wurttemberg, receive any fixed See also:salary, but take fees from the parties they represent. They may not refuse their services, See also:save on See also:good and sufficient ground. In some See also:German states, notably See also:Saxe-See also:Weimar and See also:Hesse-See also:Darmstadt, there are no notaries. In Wurttemberg, See also:Baden, See also:Bavaria, See also:Alsace-See also:Lorraine, Rhenish See also:Prussia and See also:Austria, they form a distinct class, while in the other German states they generally combine the notarial office with that of See also:advocate. There is no See also:code of rules for the whole See also:empire, the new Biirgerliches Gesetzbuch leaving it to each state to See also:frame its own regulations.

End of Article: NOTARY, or NOTARY PUBLIC

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
NOSTRUM (neuter of Lat. nosier, our) 		[next]
NOTCHES AND

Site © 2006 - Net Industries