Notaries Ordinance, 1961

The Notaries Ordinance, 1961 establishes and regulates the profession of notaries in Pakistan — legal practitioners or other qualified persons authorised to verify, certify, and attest documents. It applies across the whole country, though it comes into force in each province on a date set by the Provincial Government.

Section 3 lets the Provincial Government appoint legal practitioners or other qualified persons as notaries. Section 4 requires the Provincial Government to maintain a Register of notaries recording each notary's name, date of birth, address, and qualifications. Section 5 entitles a registered notary to a certificate authorising practice for three years, renewable if the Provincial Government is satisfied the notary's conduct over the preceding three years has been unobjectionable; someone who has practised continuously for six years cannot be reappointed unless at least three years have passed since their last renewal expired. Section 6 requires the Provincial Government to publish an annual list of practising notaries.

Section 8 lists what a notary can do by virtue of their office: verify or attest instruments, present promissory notes, hundis or bills of exchange for acceptance or payment, note protests for dishonoured instruments, administer oaths and take affidavits, prepare mercantile and shipping documents, attest documents meant to take effect abroad, and translate and verify translations of documents. Section 9 bars anyone without a valid certificate of practice from acting as a notary or using a notarial seal, with a narrow exception for a notary's clerk presenting instruments.

Section 10 lets the Provincial Government remove a notary's name from the Register on request, for non-payment of fees, insolvency, or proven professional misconduct. Section 12 makes falsely claiming to be a notary, or notarising documents without a valid certificate, punishable with imprisonment up to three months, or a fine, or both. Section 13 requires prosecutions against a notary to be authorised in writing by the Provincial Government, and reserves trials to a first-class magistrate. Section 14 allows reciprocal recognition of notarial acts done by foreign notaries where the Federal Government is satisfied of reciprocity.

This is a 1961 law that has been amended several times, including by the Notaries (Amendment) Ordinance, 1984 and the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Ordinance, 1981, as shown in the footnotes. Given its age and amendment history, readers should confirm current qualification requirements, fees, and procedures against the official rules rather than assume the original text still applies unchanged.