Local Authority round-up 24/06/22
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Lesley Fairclough is a Notary Public. This means she acts as an impartial and legally trained witness to authenticate and certify the execution of documents intended for use outside the UK. Her signature and seal is recognised as evidence of a responsible legal officer in most countries of the world. Lesley has been a qualified Notary Public since 2010.
When it comes to business transactions or personal matters with an international dimension, the services of a Notary Public are usually required. The signing of documents before a Notary Public gives the documents recognised legal status in the country concerned.
As a qualified Notary Public based in Ward Hadaway’s Newcastle office, Lesley can help with a wide range of matters including:
No. A Notary Public is an independent public official, subject to separate professional rules and standards. Whilst a lawyer can be a Notary Public, they need to have obtained additional qualifications and are separately accredited.
Costs depend on a number of factors, including the type of service required, the type and number of documents involved and for which countries they are needed. In most cases, Lesley can agree a fixed fee for services in advance, giving you real cost certainty.
Notarial services must always be carried out face-to-face. Whilst most clients come to our offices, Lesley can arrange to come out to your business premises if that would be more convenient for you. She can also arrange to see most clients at short notice, if required, or even outside normal business hours.
To arrange for your document to be notarised you will need to:
When acting for a business client, evidence of the status and authority of the person representing the business entity is required. This may mean that one or more of the following documents will be needed:
In addition to the above, each individual signatory will need to produce the individual ID documents as mentioned above.
The Notarial Certificate will be signed and sealed in respect of your documentation, however the process is not always finished. For each Notarial document, the receiving country will also check:
The only way the receiving Authorities/Officers can check whether the Notary concerned is in fact a qualified Notary and the signature and seal is really his/hers is by the process called Legalisation.
In the simplest terms, Legalisation is the receiving country asking the Government of the sending country to confirm the document is in order and can be accepted and relied upon, by them providing confirmation that the signature and seal of the Notary is genuine.
Although Legalisation/the affixing of the “Apostille” is the last step in the process, it is, in some ways the most critical. It is Lesley’s job as your Notary to make sure that the document or transaction with which you are concerned is going to be effective in the country intended.
Different Countries have different rules about this. Any of the following could apply:
Each Notarial Certificate that Lesley produces must in each case include essential information, comprising:
The production of Notarial documents is very important. They have to be substantial and they have to be secure therefore Lesley must:
Lesley ensures that Notarial Certificates are secure by sewing the pages together with ribbon and using a wafer to seal down the ribbon ends over which is applied her Notary Seal. Staples, wire and heat binding systems must not be used. It is absolutely essential that Lesley’s Notarial Certificate cannot be removed and attached to something else and that the underlying document cannot be removed and replaced with something else. Basically ensuring that every document that leaves her possession is absolutely tamper proof.
Before working on your documents, it is necessary for Lesley to ensure that:
In order to check this, she will need at least a basic understanding of the documents. If they are principally in a foreign
language, it may be necessary to obtain a translation on your behalf from a qualified translator or ask you to get advice from the lawyer in the foreign country in question. If a translation is required a quote for this work will be obtained from the qualified translator and forwarded to you for your consideration.