Genre: Legal

NOTARIES ( POST-ADMISSION ) RULES 1991 Incorporating amendments made by the Notaries ( Qualification ) Rules 1998 with effect from 1 February 1999 . 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 ( c ) following disciplinary proceedings . 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 can not 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 .