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Exhibit 31.1

I, Tim Stack, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of MedQuist Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
         registrant and have:

                  a.    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                        caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                        designed under our supervisions, to ensure that material
                        information relating to the registrant, including its
                        consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                        within those entities, particularly during the period in
                        which this report is being prepared;

                  b.    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                        disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
                        report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
                        disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
                        period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
                        and;

                  c.    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                        internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                        during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that
                        has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                        materially affect, the registrant's internal control
                        over financial reporting; and;

5.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
         on our most recent evaluation of internal controls over financial
         reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
         registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
         functions):

                  a.    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
                        the design or operation of internal controls over
                        financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
                        adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
                        process, summarize and report financial information; and

                  b.    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                        management or other employees who have a significant
                        role in the registrant's internal control over financial
                        reporting.

Date:   November 5, 2003

  /s/ Tim Stack
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Tim Stack
President and Chief Executive Officer