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Revised Statutes of Newfoundland 1990


CHAPTER N-5

AN ACT RESPECTING NOTARIES PUBLIC

Analysis

1. Short title

2. Appointment of notaries

3. Fees

4. Certificate

5. Revocation of appointment

6. Powers

7. Rule committee may fix scale of fees

8. Oaths, affirmations, etc.

9. Seal


Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Notaries Public Act.

RSN1970 c275 s1

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Appointment of notaries

2. (1) The Minister of Justice may appoint a person who is a Canadian citizen and resident in the province to be a notary public for the province.

(2) A person who wishes to be appointed a notary public shall apply in writing to the Minister of Justice and the application shall be accompanied by his or her affidavit stating that the person is a Canadian citizen by birth or naturalization, the date and place of his or her birth, the date of his or her naturalization where the person is a Canadian citizen by naturalization, and his or her place of residence.

(3) A person who supplies false information to the Minister of Justice in making an application under subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $200.

RSN1970 c275 s2; 1973 No48 s4(w); 1983 c76 s11

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Fees

3. A person who is appointed to be a notary public shall, before receiving a certificate of appointment, pay to the Minister of Justice the fee that may be fixed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

RSN1970 c275 s3; 1973 No48 s4(w)

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Certificate

4. (1) The appointment of a notary public shall be evidenced by a certificate in a form approved by the Minister of Justice.

(2) A person who is appointed to be a notary public shall, before acting as a notary public, appear before the Chief Justice of Newfoundland, the Chief Justice of the Trial Division, 1 of the judges of the Court of Appeal or the Trial Division or before a Provincial Court judge and take the oath or affirmation of allegiance and oath or affirmation of office which shall be printed on the certificate.

(3) A certificate issued under subsection (1) shall be received in a court in the province as, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, evidence of the facts stated in it and of the authority of the person by whom the certificate purports to be signed without proof of the appointment or signature of that person.

(4) The appointment of a notary public shall be complete upon his or her taking the oath or affirmation of allegiance and of office in accordance with subsection (2).

(5) The Minister of Justice shall keep an index of all notaries public.

(6) The index required to be kept under subsection (5) shall be divided into 2 parts as follows:

(a) in 1 part the name of each notary public shall be entered at the time of his or her appointment together with his or her address, the date of the appointment, and the date of revocation of the appointment; and

(b) in the other part the names of all notaries public shall be listed by cities, towns or other place of residence.

RSN1970 c275 s4; 1973 No48 s4(w); 1974 No57 s38 (262); 1977 c46 s10; 1979 c38 s7; 1983 c76 s11; 1986 c42 Sch B

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Revocation of appointment

5. (1) The Minister of Justice may without assigning a reason for doing so revoke the appointment of a notary public and shall require a person whose appointment is revoked to surrender his or her seal to the Minister of Justice and to return to that minister the certificate issued under this Act or, where the notary public was appointed before July 1, 1957, a certificate or other evidence of his or her appointment issued to and held by that person.

(2) A person who refuses or fails to surrender his or her seal or to return his or her certificate or other evidence of appointment when required to do so under subsection (1), or who after the revocation of his or her appointment uses or exercises the powers conferred by this Act upon a notary public, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100.

RSN1970 c275 s5; 1973 No48 s4(w); 1983 c76 s11

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Powers

6. Subject to the Law Society Act, a notary public has and may use and exercise power to witness a document brought before him or her and demand and receive the fees provided by this Act or another statute or law.

RSN1970 c275 s6

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Rule committee may fix scale of fees

7. The rule committee provided for in the Judicature Act may fix, increase, reduce and otherwise alter or amend the scale of fees to be demanded and received by notaries public.

RSN1970 c275 s7

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Oaths, affirmations, etc.

8. A notary public may administer all oaths, affirmations, or declarations required to be administered, sworn, affirmed, made, taken, or received under an Act of the Legislature or of the Parliament of Canada or of the Legislature of another province or by the laws of a foreign country or state, and to witness the oaths, affirmations, or declarations by affixing the person's notarial seal and signing his or her name to the relevant document.

RSN1970 c275 s8

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Seal

9. (1) A notary public shall provide himself or herself with a seal which shall be of metal and on which shall be engraved the person's name and the words "Notary Public" and "Newfoundland".

(2) A notary public shall place his or her seal to every document which the person signs in that capacity.

(3) A notary public who fails to comply with subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10.

RSN1970 c275 s10

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