What Does a Notary Public Actually Do? Understanding the Real Prestige of the Role

Ask most people what a Notary Public does, and you'll likely hear something about stamping documents or witnessing a signature. In some countries, that's a fair description. In England and Wales, however, it captures almost nothing of what the role actually involves.

The Notaries' Society of England and Wales shield

The authority, training, and standing of a Notary Public vary enormously depending on where in the world you are. For anyone navigating international business, cross-border property transactions, or complex estate planning, understanding what that office really carries is essential — and it's a distinction I deal with directly in my own practice as a City of London Notary.

Three Very Different Professions, One Shared Title

The word "notary" means something different depending on the legal tradition you're in. Broadly, the profession splits into three tiers:

England and Wales (a hybrid of common law and civil law training)

• Independent, dual-qualified legal specialists

• Full practising rights in non-contentious law

• Fewer than 800 practitioners nationwide

Civil Law jurisdictions — continental Europe and Latin America

• State-appointed legal officials at the top of the profession

• Mandatory involvement in major legal transactions

• Numbers strictly capped by government quota

United States

• A widely accessible civic role

• Primarily administrative in function

• Over four million commissioned notaries

England and Wales: The Elite, Dual-Qualified Specialists

Notaries Public in England and Wales form the oldest — and smallest — independent branch of the legal profession, with fewer than 800 practitioners in total. (Scotland sits outside this structure entirely, with notarial qualification tied to practising as a Scottish solicitor.)

Far from being administrative witnesses, English and Welsh Notaries are highly trained lawyers holding independent public office, with authority to practise across a wide range of non-contentious law — conveyancing, wills, probate, corporate formations — in addition to the international document authentication most people associate with the role.

Notaries are appointed by the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury, acting under Crown authority, and are regulated by the Master of the Faculties. This court-derived appointment underpins the quasi-judicial character of the role: a Notary's acts carry enhanced evidential weight and are relied upon by courts, governments, and institutions internationally, often without the need for further proof.

Civil Law Jurisdictions: The Gatekeepers of Legal Certainty

In France, Germany, Spain, and much of Latin America, a Notaire or Notario sits near the top of the legal hierarchy, on a par with senior judges. The state limits the number of notarial seats through a strict quota system, and their involvement is mandatory for major transactions — you cannot legally buy property or incorporate a company without one.

The United States: A Different Model Entirely

By contrast, the US keeps the barrier to entry deliberately low, prioritising accessibility over specialisation. American notaries are generally not lawyers and are legally barred from giving legal advice — their function is limited to witnessing signatures and verifying identity to guard against fraud.

The Qualification Path in England and Wales

The standing of a Notary in England and Wales is protected by one of the most demanding qualification routes in the legal profession. It typically runs in three stages:

1. A qualifying law degree (LLB) or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)

2. Professional legal training — the LPC, the Bar Practice Course, or the SQE — bringing candidates to the same standard as a practising solicitor or barrister

3. A postgraduate specialism at University College London: a structured, typically two-year programme covering subjects most solicitors never study, including Roman Law and Private International Law

This is what makes a Notary legally "bilingual" in a way few other lawyers are. Where a solicitor is trained in domestic common law, a Notary also understands the structure and demands of civil law systems abroad — which is precisely why notarised documents carry weight in foreign courts and registries.

Within this already small profession, an even smaller group of London-based Scrivener Notaries take further examinations in foreign languages and foreign legal systems. This additional qualification reflects specialised linguistic and cross-border expertise — it does not confer any greater legal authority or power than that held by any other Notary Public in England and Wales, all of whom practise under the same notarial powers.

Notary or Solicitor — What's the Difference?

Many notaries, myself included, also practise as solicitors, but the two roles serve different purposes. A solicitor is appointed by, and acts for, a single client, in that client's interest. A Notary, by contrast, holds independent public office under a court appointment and performs a quasi-judicial function: impartial, evidence-based, and owed to the transaction and to the wider legal system rather than to either party. That is what gives a notarised document its standing — it can be relied upon by any court or authority, anywhere in the world, without further proof.

Why This Matters for International Clients

For high-net-worth individuals structuring succession across jurisdictions, or businesses executing cross-border transactions, the distinction isn't academic. A document notarised in England and Wales carries a level of legal certainty abroad that a simple witnessed signature never will.

As a Private Wealth & International Tax Lawyer and City of London Notary Public — TEP qualified, with an MA in Tax Law from the University of London — I work at the intersection of these two worlds: advising on the structuring itself, and authenticating the documents that make it enforceable across borders.

Need notarial or cross-border legal assistance with an international transaction, property matter, or estate plan?

Get in touch to arrange a consultation:

• Phone: +44 (0) 20 3488 4195

• Book online: calendly.com/attorney-sheikhnajam

• Contact form: sheikhnajam.com/contact-8

Sheikh Najam TEP, Private Wealth & International Tax Lawyer and City of London Notary

Sheikh Najam TEP, MA (Tax Law), is a Private Wealth & International Tax Lawyer and City of London Notary practising from Fox Court, 14 Gray's Inn Road, Holborn, London WC1X 8HN.