Notaries4.11.html

NOTARIES (POST-ADMISSION) RULES 1991

Incorporating amendments made by the Notaries (Qualification) Rules 1998 with effect from 1 February 1999.

REVOKED BY THE NOTARIES (POST-ADMISSION) RULES 2009 SUBJECT TO THE SAVINGS IN RULE 11(2)

Citation and Commencement

1. These rules may be cited as the Notaries (Post-Admission) Rules 1991, and shall come into operation on the 8th day of July 1991.

Interpretation

2. In these Rules

"The Faculty Office" means the Registry of the Court of Faculties; "The Master" means the Master of the Faculties;

"The Registrar" means the Registrar of the Court of Faculties.

Period of practice under supervision

3. (1) This Rule shall apply to all Notaries admitted to practise in England and Wales (other than Notaries to whom Rule 10 applies and Notaries for ecclesiastical purposes only) on or after the 13th day of June 1990

(2) A notary to whom this Rule applies shall be required to complete a period of practice under supervision in accordance with this Rule which shall commence

(a) in the case of a notary admitted after the date on which this Rule comes into effect, or of a notary admitted before that date but not in practice on that date, on the date on which he commences or resumes practice as a notary; or

(b) in any other case, as soon as arrangements for supervision can practicably be made, but not in any event later than two months after this rule comes into effect.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) of this Rule, the duration of the period of practice under supervision shall be two years, less either of the following:

(a) any period of apprenticeship served pursuant to section 2 of the Public Notaries Act 1801 or pursuant to requirements of the Incorporated Company of Scriveners of London imposed under section 57(11)(b) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;

(b) any period spent in actual practice as a notary, prior to the coming into effect of these Rules, by a district notary appointed pursuant to the Public Notaries Act 1833.

(4) The Master may direct that the period of practice under supervision be extended in any particular case, either:

(a) as a condition of approving a change of supervision under paragraph (5) of rule 4, or

(b) following his consideration of a report submitted pursuant to paragraph (3) of rule 7, or

Selection of supervisor

4. (1) During the period of practice under supervision the notary to whom this Rule applies ("the supervised notary") shall practise as a notary only under the supervision (as defined in rule 5) of another notary ("the supervisor") who holds a current practising certificate entered in or issued from the Court of Faculties, and who has been engaged in actual practice as a notary for not less than five years immediately preceding the period of supervision.

(2) A person who has no usual place of business within 50 miles (or within a distance which he is able to travel in two hours in normal conditions, if shorter) of the office from which a supervised notary proposes to practise shall not act as supervisor of that notary unless his appointment as such is confirmed by the Master.

(3) It shall be the duty of a supervised notary to notify the Faculty Office upon request of the name and address of his supervisor; and it shall be the duty of any notary to notify the Faculty Office upon request of the names and addresses of all notaries of whom he is the supervisor.

(4) A supervised notary shall, upon the death or retirement from practice of his supervisor, forthwith make arrangements for another notary qualified under this Rule to supervise his practice for the remainder of the required period; and any time between the death or retirement of the former supervisor and the coming into effect of such arrangements shall not count towards the period of supervised practice.

(5) If for any reason other than the death or retirement of the supervisor, either party wishes the appointment of a particular supervisor to be terminated before the expiry of the required period of supervised practice, application shall be made for that purpose to the Master, who may terminate the supervision upon such conditions as he shall think fit.

Extent of supervision

5. (1) The following aspects of a notary's practice shall be excluded from the general requirement of supervision (but not from the obligation to produce records and accounts under paragraph (2) of this Rule):

(a) conveyancing and probate, in the case of a notary who is also a solicitor and who would be entitled to carry out conveyance and probate as a solicitor without supervision, or who does in fact receive such supervision in relation to his practice as a solicitor as is required by the Solicitors Act 1974 and Rules made thereunder;

(b) conveyancing, in the case of a notary who is also a licensed conveyancer and who would be entitled to carry out conveyancing as such without supervision, or who does in fact receive such supervision in relation to his practice as a licensed conveyancer as is required by the statutes and rules governing that profession.

(2) The supervisor shall visit the office of the supervised notary at least once in every period of four months, and shall inspect the records and accounts of the supervised notary relating to that period, which the supervised notary shall (subject to paragraph (3) of this Rule) produce to the supervisor on request.

(3) If it appears to a supervised notary that papers relating to the business of a particular client cannot be shown to his supervisor without causing a breach of the duty of confidentiality owed to that client (whether on account of a relationship between the client and the supervisor, or because the supervisor is known to act for a person in competition with the client, or for any other reason), he shall inform the supervisor of that fact. The supervisor may nominate another notary (qualified to be a supervisor under rule 4(1) but not subject to the same objections of confidentiality as respects the client concerned) and the notary nominated shall, if willing to act, have the supervisor's rights and duties in relation to those papers.

(4) The supervisor shall make himself available at all reasonable times to offer advice and guidance to the supervised notary on matters covered by the supervision.

(5) The supervisor shall take particular care to ensure (so far as he is able) that the supervised notary is aware of, and complies with, all Rules and Orders made by the Master under section 57 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, and conducts himself in a manner calculated to maintain the reputation of the office and profession of a public notary.

Post-Admission Education

6. Every supervised notary shall, during each year of his period of practice under supervision, attend

(a) one full-day course or seminar approved by the Master covering the topics of Bills of Exchange, Notarial Practice and Professional Conduct;

(b) if desiring to carry out conveyancing as part of his notarial practice, one full-day continuing education course or seminar in conveyancing approved by the Master; and

(c) if desiring to carry out probate work as part of his notarial practice, one full-day continuing education course or seminar in probate approved by the Master;

and shall make a report to his supervisor on the course or seminar attended.

Records and reporting

7. (1) A report of every visit and inspection made pursuant to paragraph (2) of rule 5 shall be made by the supervisor, and shall be inserted in the Register or other permanent record kept by each notary pursuant to the Notaries (Records) Rules 1991.

(2) The supervisor shall enter in the Register or other permanent record kept by him pursuant to the Notaries (Records) Rules 1991 a note of any advice or guidance given to a supervised notary pursuant to paragraph 4 of rule 5.

(3) Upon the completion of a period of practice under supervision (or upon the retirement from practice of a supervisor during such a period), the supervisor shall report the fact of such completion to the Master in writing and shall indicate the courses or seminars attended by the supervised notary pursuant to rule 6, and whether in his opinion the supervised notary should thereafter be permitted to practise without supervision. The supervisor and the supervised notary shall respond in writing to any questions put by the Master in relation to the period of supervision, and produce to the Faculty Office such documents as the Master may require.

Fees

8. A notary agreeing to act as a supervisor shall be entitled to charge the supervised notary a fee not exceeding the level prescribed from time to time in Regulations made by the Master (which may include provision for expenses), together with the amount of any Value Added Tax due thereon. If for any reason the appointment of the supervisor ceases before the end of the period of supervision, the fee shall be apportioned pro rata or as the Master may direct.

Dispensations

9. The Master may, upon such application made to him as he deems sufficient, for good cause dispense any notary from the requirement of supervision under these Rules or permit such lesser supervision as he considers practicable in the circumstances of any particular case.

European Economic Area Notaries

10. The provisions of these Rules shall not apply to any Notary who, immediately prior to his admission, was recognised by the Master as qualified for admission under the provisions of rule 9 of the Notaries (Qualification) Rules 1998.