Functions of a Notary Public
A notary public is one who is permitted by law to attest legal documents in accordance with section 3 of the Notaries Public Act, Ch. 57. The Act makes provision for three categories of Notaries Public, namely:
- any counsel and attorney of the Supreme Court licensed as a notary public;
- any person holding or acting in a public office as specified in the First Schedule to the Act shall be ex officio a notary public;
- any person who immediately before the commencement of the Notaries Act (1972) was the holder of a licence as a notary public under section 3 of the Notaries Public Act (now repealed).
Each year, all newly enrolled and renewed licensed notaries public are published in The Bahamas for public information. Persons enrolling or renewing their licence after the publication is released would have their information published in a supplementary publication.
A licence is for a period of one year, expiring on the 31st day of December annually. All licences are renewable annually at a fee prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Notaries Public Act.
Where a licence has been lost, destroyed or mutilated, it may be replaced upon the application of the holder and payment of a BS$20.00 fee as prescribed in the Second Schedule.
There are two aspects to a notarial function. The responsibilities are spread over two ministries:
the Office of the Attorney-General; and
the Consular Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Office of the Attorney-General deals with the enrollment of notaries public, the renewal of notaries licences and the replacement of licences, etc.
The Consulate Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deals with the other aspect of the notarial function, namely, authentications and apostilles.
Authentication is most often a part of a chain of proof that involves a number of cover documents, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs or an officer designated by him is the last official in that chain.
It is the process of verifying the official nature of a document so that officials in another country can accept it at face value.
Various documents (birth/death, marriage/divorce, police records, corporate good standings, adoptions, transferring school records, doing business, etc.) are some of the types of documents submitted for authentication to the Consulate Section.
When a document is notarized, the "Apostille" in the form prescribed by the Hague Convention conclusively establishes that the signature of the notarial officer is genuine and that the notarial officer holds the indicated office.
The "Apostille" attests to the validity of the signature of the notary public, not of the contents of the document.
The Hague Convention applies to documents which have been executed in one country and which have to be presented in another country, not to the domestic filing of documents.
