SAMOA

NOTARIES PUBLIC ACT 1974

Arrangement of Provisions

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

		

 NOTARIES PUBLIC ACT 1974
1974	No.8

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of notaries public.
	
[Assent and 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 a 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 a person who is appointed under subsection (1) 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) A 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) A 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 is $50, except if  the notary public is a solicitor in the full-time employment of the service of the Government.

5.	Discharge for misconduct – Upon a 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 – A person who discharges the duties of a notary public not being qualified so to do commits an offence, and  is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 5 penalty units, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, unless the person 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  a 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  an 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 – 2012

This Act has been revised under section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. 

There were no amendments made to this Act since the 2007 Reprint.

This Act has been revised in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is the official version of this Act as at 31 December 2012.  It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised in 2008 under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel).

Revised in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

Revised in 2012 by the Legislative Drafting Division.

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