RSNL1990 CHAPTER N-5 - NOTARIES PUBLIC ACT - Point in Time

Short title

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

RSN1970 c275 s1

Appointment of notaries

2. (1) The Minister of Justice may appoint a person who is a Canadian citizen and resident in the province or a person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada and is a resident of 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 or has the status of a permanent resident of Canada, the date and place of his or her birth 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; 2010 c6 s1

Fees

3. A person who is appointed to be a notary public shall, before receiving his or her certificate of appointment, pay to the Minister of Justice the fee the minister may set.

1996 cR-10.1 s52

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 and Labrador, 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; 2001 cN-3.1 s2

Revocation of appointment

5. (1) The Minister of Justice, without assigning a reason for doing so, may revoke the appointment of a notary public.

(2) The appointment of a notary public who is a member of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador is automatically revoked where the member is suspended or disbarred under the Law Society Act, 1999.

(3) The revocation of an appointment referred to in subsection (2) takes effect on the date the suspension or disbarment under the Law Society Act, 1999 takes effect.

(4) A person whose appointment as a notary public is revoked under subsection (1) or (2) shall surrender his or her seal to the Minister of Justice and shall return to the minister his or her certificate of appointment.

(5) A person appointed as a notary public before July 1, 1957, shall, where his or her appointment is revoked, return to the minister his or her certificate of appointment or other evidence of the appointment issued to that person.

(6) A person who refuses or fails to surrender his or her seal or to return his or her certificate or other evidence of appointment as required under subsection (4) or (5), is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100.

2006 c34 s1; 2010 c6 s2

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

Rep. by 2010 c6 s3

7. Rep. by 2010 c6 s3

2010 c6 s3

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

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 and Labrador ".

(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; 2001 cN-3.1 s2

Offence

10. (1) A person who holds himself or herself out as a notary public without having been appointed as one is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $500.

(2) A person whose appointment as a notary public has been revoked under subsection 5(1) or (2) who after the revocation uses or exercises a power conferred on a notary public by this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $500.

2010 c6 s4