# Justice of the Peace, a lawyer, or a notary public



## newlezawang

Hi all

I am filling an immigration form. I have to declare all my statements are not false and this declaration has to be witness by Justice of the Peace, a lawyer, or a notary public as per that form's instruction. My question what is Justice of peace and how these 3 people are different (justice of peace, lawyer and notary)? Do you know good public notary, lawyer or Justice of the Peace in Auckland area.

Thanks a lot.


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## Song_Si

*Auckland Justices of the Peace Association (Inc)*
Justices of the Peace are appointed to provide a range of duties important in the administration of New Zealand. Their functions fall into two categories, referred to as ministerial duties and judicial duties. All Justices of the Peace are required to carry out ministerial duties but further training must be undertaken by JPs before they may provide judicial duties.

The services of a Justice of the Peace in New Zealand are provided free to the public and without remuneration to any JP. Local JPs in your neighbourhood are happy to be of service in their free time and the courtesy of making an appointment before visiting a JP is always appreciated.

Ministerial duties include:

Taking oaths and declarations
Witnessing signatures
Certifying copies

Judicial duties include:

Hearing summary offences
Presiding over preliminary hearings
Conducting traffic courts
Hearing bail applications and requests for remands and adjournments

To find one - search *yellowpages* for your location - there are 1502 in the greater Auckland region

or - use this list to identify a Service Desk with a JP in your local area


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## Song_Si

*Notary Public*

A notary public (sometimes called a notary or a public notary) in New Zealand is a lawyer authorised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in England to officially witness signatures on legal documents, collect sworn statements, administer oaths and certify the authenticity of legal documents usually for use overseas. A notary public uses an embossing tool (seal) to verify his or her presence at the time the documents were signed. When visiting a notary public it is important to have formal identification with you ideally your passport or photo drivers licence. If the document being notarised refers to a specific identity document the notary will need to sight that document as well. In some cases documents once signed by the notary will need to be sent to the Department of Internal Affairs in Wellington for authentication.

*************

*Note: Lawyers and Notary Publics will charge you for their time. It is their job*


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## lisamct

newlezawang said:


> Do you know good public notary, lawyer or Justice of the Peace in Auckland area.
> 
> Thanks a lot.


Most Citizens Advice Bureau's have a Justice of the Peace in for a few hours each day who'll certify your documents for free. Just give the one nearest to you a call, find out when they'll be there and pop in to get it done...easy.
Map


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## toadsurfer

Lawyers shouldn't charge for taking stat decs or swearing affidavits. Notaries will though.


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## signifi

Depends what your documents are for? Often some countries will require a Notary Public because only they can sign for countries out of another countries jurisdiction.
For example I had to get some documents signed in the UK to be sent to Australia and could only use a UK based Notary Public to do so. A UK lawyer/solicitor or Justice of Peace was not good enough for the purpose. I believe there are only approx. 800 Notary Publics based in the UK so tracking one down and organising to meet one took a few weeks. And they charge over £100 for a signature!


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