notary, public official whose chief function in common-law countries is to authenticate contracts, deeds, and other documents by an appropriate certificate with a notarial seal. In Roman law the notarius was originally a slave or freedman who took notes of judicial proceedings. The work of the modern notary, however, corresponds more to that of the Roman tabularius, who took and preserved evidence. In medieval times the notary was an ecclesiastical officer who preserved evidence, but his duties were mainly secular.
The modern notary is appointed, after making application, by a secular official; the appointment usually becomes effective on payment of a fee, on the taking of an oath of office, and, in many parts of the United States, on the deposit of a bond to assure the proper performance of duties.
In the United States, qualifications for the position vary little from state to state, and, in general, a notary must be a citizen of legal age and a resident of the area in which appointment is desired. The jurisdiction of the notary’s office is limited to the state or, in some states, only the county in which the notary resides. In countries such as France and Italy, however, and in the Canadian province of Quebec, which follow the civil-law tradition, there are educational requirements for notaries similar to those for lawyers.
In England and Wales, in the civil-law countries of western Europe, and in Latin American and French areas of North America, the office of notary is a much more important position than in the United States. Notaries in England and Wales are lawyers who are chiefly engaged in authenticating signatures and commercial and private documents for use outside the United Kingdom; they are authorized to practice in all areas of law but do not conduct court proceedings. The civil-law notary may be roughly described as a lawyer who specializes in the law relating to real estate, sales, mortgages, and the settlement of estates but who is not allowed to appear in court. Documents prepared by the notary or authenticated in the proper manner are, in these countries, admissible in court without further proof of their authenticity; the notary guarantees the identity of the parties.
In the Anglo-American-law countries, on the other hand, courts will not accept as true the facts certified by a notary except in the case of a bill of exchange protested abroad. Nor may a notary draw up legal documents such as wills, contracts, mortgages, and deeds for a fee, for such work constitutes the practice of law. Nevertheless, many statutes require that the authenticity of specified documents be certified by a notary; the most common of these in the United States are deeds conveying land. In these cases the notary must not take the acknowledgment of a person who does not appear before the notary or who is not known to the notary unless evidence of identification is presented.
Certain other officials may be given notarial functions by statute, such as justices of the peace, consular officials, certain military officers, and various court officials.