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Commissioner of Oath

A formal appointment or commission governments give to individuals empowering them to certify the oath of another upon documents, such as affidavits.

Lawyers are usually commissioners of oath ex officio as are notaries for whom the office is the raison d’être.

Some jurisdictions (like British Columbia) are excessively conservative in not supplementing the core group of professional commissioners by the empowerment of paralegals.

This means more money for lawyers and notaries who can bill for the simple service of taking an oath. Even asking a Court clerk to act as commisioner of oath on an affidavit, for example, can be costly.

Other jurisdictions, like Quebec, assist in reducing the cost and complexity of aces to justice by generously extending the commission or appointment – even to law firm secretaries.


References/Research/Further Reading:

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Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.

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