Notarial Law, Practice, Ethics and Professional Conduct
The office and its boundaries
Notaries public in Ireland are appointed by the Chief Justice and are ordinarily drawn from solicitors and barristers of standing; the Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland is their professional body. A notary is in practice also a commissioner for oaths, but the two offices are not interchangeable: a commissioner for oaths administers oaths, whereas a notary may also authenticate signatures, certify copies, verify translations, note and protest bills of exchange and draw up certificates intended for use abroad. Knowing which capacity you are exercising is itself an examinable point.
Core duties
The notary exercises a delegated public function and is bound by independence, impartiality, confidentiality and competence. Three duties carry most of the marks: verifying identity from reliable, independent evidence rather than mere assertion; satisfying yourself of capacity and of the signatory's free and informed will, noting anything doubtful; and refusing to authenticate anything unlawful, misleading or contrary to public policy. Conflicts of interest - your own stake in the transaction, a family relationship, or acting for both sides - call for refusal or, at minimum, disclosure and usually refusal. Anti-money-laundering obligations apply: customer due diligence, beneficial ownership checks, record retention and suspicious transaction reporting. Fees must be disclosed and never contingent on outcome.
Trap and rule of thumb
A recurring trap is the candidate who believes a notary may certify the truth of a document's contents. The notary certifies the act, not the facts behind it. Rule of thumb: before sealing, answer three questions - who is this person, do they understand and choose this, and is the act lawful?
Worked example: a client presents a Spanish-language power of attorney for Irish property and the notary does not read Spanish. The correct course is a competent translation, a documented identification, and a certificate confined to what the notary actually witnessed.