A notary public is an officer who can administer oaths and statutory declarations, witness and authenticate documents and perform certain other acts varying from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Generally speaking, a notary public in the United States of America has powers that are far more limited than the role of a notary in the rest of the world, with the exception of Louisiana. 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.

In almost all countries (most of the United States being the exception) notaries are required to undergo specific training in the performance of their duties. Many must also first serve as an apprentice before being commissioned or licensed to practice their profession. Even licensed lawyers must go through additional training and apprenticeship, in some countries, before being allowed to practice the profession of a notary. Unlike most countries, the majority of those commissioned as a notary public in the United States of America are not licensed attorneys-at-law 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, in addition to their notary public duties, with the sole exception of representing others before the courts, unless they are also licensed as a barrister.)

Duties

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The duties and functions of notaries public are described in Brooke's Notary on page 19 in these terms:

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Over 70,000 CA Notaries let their commissions expire in 2007/2008 and went back to their day jobs! I'm still rockin'!! www.aquicknote.net

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