Notaries Public Act 1990

Notaries Public Act 1990

This Act may be cited as the Notaries Public Act 1990.

This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires –

the commencement day means the day fixed under section 2;

the Court means the Supreme Court of Tasmania;

the Registrar means the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Tasmania;

the Roll means the Roll of notaries public maintained under section 7;

rules means rules of the Court.

A person who, immediately before the commencement day, held office as, and was in practice in Tasmania as, a notary public or public notary appointed, or purporting to have been appointed, by the Court of Faculties of His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury shall be deemed to have been, on that day, appointed under this Act as a notary public.

Any act, matter or thing appertaining to the office, function or practice of a notary public or public notary that was done or performed in Tasmania at any time before the commencement day by a person referred to in subsection (1) has, and shall be deemed always to have had, the same force and effect as it would have had if, at that time, this Act had been in force and the name of the person had been on the Roll.

The Court may appoint a person as a notary public if, on application to the Court made and advertised as prescribed by the rules and accompanied by the fee so prescribed, the Court is satisfied that the person– is an Australian legal practitioner of not less than 5 years' standing; and is of good fame and character; and is competent to act as a notary public; and has such other qualifications as may be prescribed by the rules– and that there is a need for the appointment of a notary public in the district where that person is practising as an Australian legal practitioner.

An appointment under subsection (1) may be made subject to conditions imposed by the Court.

A person who, as prescribed by the rules, files and serves notice in a form so prescribed objecting to an application under section 5 may, in person or by counsel, appear before the Court and be heard in opposition to the application.

The Registrar shall establish and maintain a Roll of notaries public in which shall be entered the name of, and any prescribed particulars relating to – a person referred to in section 4(1) whose appointment, or purported appointment, by the Court of Faculties so referred to has not been revoked; and a person who is appointed under section 5 as a notary public.

The Registrar shall, at such times as are prescribed by the rules, make available for public inspection the names and particulars entered on the Roll.

The Court may, at the request of a notary public, cause the name of the notary public to be removed from the Roll.

Where the name of a notary public is removed from the roll of local lawyers, kept under the Legal Profession Act 2007 or barristers and is not then entered in the other of those rolls, the Registrar shall remove the name of the notary public from the Roll of notaries public.

On the application of a person whose name appears on the Roll, the Registrar shall issue to that person, under the hand of the Registrar and the Seal of the Court, a certificate of the appointment of that person as a notary public.

The Registrar may, on the application of a person to whom any such certificate was issued, issue to that person a duplicate of the certificate if the Registrar is satisfied that the certificate has been lost or destroyed or that a duplicate should, for any other reason, be issued.

For the removal of doubts it is declared –

that a notary public appointed or deemed to have been appointed under this Act may exercise all such powers and authorities throughout Tasmania as may lawfully be exercised by a notary public in the United Kingdom; and that nothing in this Act affects the validity or operation within Tasmania of a notarial act duly done outside Tasmania.

The Court may, on its own motion or on cause being shown on application by any person – reprimand a notary public; or suspend a notary public from practice in Tasmania for a specified period; or cause the name of a notary public to be removed from the Roll – or it may, in the case of such an application, dismiss the application.

Where the Court acts under subsection (1)(a) or (b) in relation to a notary public, it may order the notary public to comply with such conditions as it thinks fit to impose.

A person shall not, on or after the commencement day, do or perform in Tasmania any act, matter or thing appertaining to the office, function or practice of a notary public unless the name of that person is on the Roll.

A notary public shall not – while suspended from practice under section 10(1); or while suspended from practice as an Australian legal practitioner– do or perform in Tasmania any act, matter or thing appertaining to the office, function or practice of a notary public.

A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units.