CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

NOTARIES PUBLIC ACT 1974

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE

1.	Short title
2.	Appointment of notaries
3.	Oath of office
4.	Enrolment
5.	Discharge for misconduct
6.	Offence
Schedule

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THE NOTARIES PUBLIC ACT 1974
1974	No.8

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of notaries public.

(28 August 1974)
(Commencement date: 28 August 1974)

1.	Short title - This Act may be cited as the Notaries Public Act 1974.

2.	Appointment of notaries - (1) For the due convenience of the public, it shall be lawful for the Chief Justice, with the concurrence of the Minister of Justice and Courts Administration, to appoint any solicitor residing and practising in Samoa, whom he or she shall consider a fit and proper person, to be a notary public in Samoa to discharge similar duties and enjoy similar rights as are usual in overseas jurisdictions.

(2) Where any person who is appointed under subsection (1) of this section to be a notary public is at the time of his appointment a solicitor in the full-time employment of the service of the Government of Samoa, he or she shall (without prejudice to section 5) cease to be a notary public when he or she leaves such employment.

3.	Oath of office - (1) Every person so appointed shall before entering on the duties of his or her office, be sworn before the Chief Justice or any other judicial officer authorised by law to administer oaths, well and faithfully to discharge the duties of his or her office.

(2) Such oath shall be in the form set out in the Schedule.

4.	Enrolment - (1) Every person appointed to be a notary public shall cause his or her name to be enrolled in a roll of Notaries Public to be kept for the purpose by the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and he or she shall be entitled to a certificate of enrolment under the Seal of the Court.

(2) No person whose name had not been enrolled as aforesaid shall be entitled to perform the duties of a notary public.

(3) The fee for enrolment as aforesaid shall be $50, except in the case of a notary public who is a solicitor in the full-time employment of the service of the Government of Samoa.

5.	Discharge for misconduct - Upon any notary public being guilty of misconduct in the discharge of the duties of his office, or becoming unable to perform his or her duties, such notary public may be discharged by the Chief Justice from the duties of the said Office.

6.	Offence - Any person who discharges the duties of a notary public not being qualified so to do shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 5 penalty units, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, unless he or she is authorised or permitted to discharge those duties under any other rule of law.

SCHEDULE 	Section 3

I, .A.B., do swear that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of my office as a notary public, that I will faithfully make contracts or instruments for or between any party or parties requiring the same, and I will not alter the same without the knowledge and consent of such party or parties: I will not make or attest any act, deed, contract, or instrument in which I know or suspect that there is fraud; and in all things I will act uprightly and justly in the office of a notary public according to the best of my skill and ability.
So help me God.

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a)	References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b)	The fines have been amended and are stated as penalty units as provided for by the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998.

(c)	All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.

(d)	Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(e)	Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.

(f)	Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2007. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by Leilani Pereira-Moeono
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No.2

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The commencement date (being the date of assent by virtue of the Acts Interpretation Act 1974, section 8) has been noted after the date of assent after the long title of the Act. 

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2008. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated under the supervision of Teleiai.Lalotoa S Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel).

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Notaries Public Act 1974 is administered in the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration.