Legal Notice

Notaries

Welcome to Rest Harrow Notaries.

H.C.S Perera (Hettiachchige Chulani Sudharman Perera) our Qualified Notary Public Lawyer provide a range of Notarial services that are competitively priced with flexible appointment times. We prepare, certify and authenticate documents for use all over the world, and will ensure to provide a quick and cost-effective service. Our notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury under the direction of the Master of the Faculties and governed by various Acts. With our head office based in Mitcham Town centre our Notary services are very easily reached via car, train, bus. Contact us today if you are in need of our Notary services. Our service areas cover most parts of Surrey and Greater London particularly, Mitcham, Morden, Tooting, Streatham, Wimbledon, Sutton, Balham, Clapham, Clapham Common, Hackbridge, Wallington and Carshalton.

The Role of a notary

A Notary Public also referred as a ‘Notary’ is a member of the oldest branch of legal profession in England & Wales. His purpose throughout England and Wales is to act as a co-ordinator between the English legal system and other foreign systems of law so that your documents can be valid in any foreign country.

The role of the Notary is to check the identity, capacity & authority of the person signing the document. If the Notary is satisfied after carrying out his obligations, the Notary will issue a notarial seal of office to the document, or where appropriate a notarial certificate. The form of notarial seal of office is exclusive & personal to each individual notary. The Notary’s primary duty is to the document itself & not to the individual presenting it. Notarial Acts therefore require high standard of care as this is relied upon by third parties such as foreign government officials.

Notarial Public Services

  • Certifying document for use abroad
  • Drawing up and witnessing Powers of Attorney for use abroad
  • Assisting with the purchase or sale of properties abroad
  • Certification of copy documents
  • Obtaining an apostille from the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury

About Me

H.C.S Perera (Hettiachchige Chulani Sudharman Perera )

Achieving Justice through Equity and Fairness is my motto. I endeavour to provide legal services with this ideal in mind and serve my clients whenever and wherever possible.

I am a qualified notary public who has been providing notarial acts to a highly satisfied client-base. Like many other notary public I am also a qualified solicitor, I have been practicing as a solicitor for well over15 years in the fields of Conveyancing, Landlord and Tenant, Corporate Law, Personal Injury and Immigration. Prior to becoming a solicitor, I was sworn in as a barrister –at –law, called to the Bar from the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 2001 and practised for several years before taking up education and training as a solicitor to qualify as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales. Furthermore I am a practising attorney-at-law and a Notary Public in Sri Lanka and hold the office of Justice of the Peace (All Island) in Sri Lanka. I speak Tamil (working knowledge) and Sinhala in addition to English as languages.

I possess an extensive experience and expertise in notarial practice both in England and Wales and Sri Lanka.


Data Protection

Notaries      are data controllers and must comply with the obligations of a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018 (the Act), particularly with regard to the collection and retention of special categories of personal data and criminal records.  Notaries must also comply with the obligation under the Act to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office and to provide accurate information with regard to the nature of their notarial practice.


WHAT ARE PERSONAL DATA?


“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, known as ‘data subject’, who can be identified directly or indirectly; it may include name, address, email address, phone number, IP address, location data, cookies, a recording of your call with us and similar information. It may also include “special categories of personal data” such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a data subject, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation. For the purposes of this privacy notice references to ‘personal data’ include ‘special categories of personal data’ as appropriate.


COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA


  • When you contact us, we may request personal information about you such as your name, postal address, email address and telephone number. Or you may complete a form or apply for a job. We hold information provided to us by our members during their application. We may also ask for demographic information to enable us to provide a personalised service to you.
  • We sometimes supplement that information with information that is received from third parties. For instance, if inaccurate postal codes are received, we may use third party software to fix them.
  • You may also provide to us personal data relating to third parties, such as people who you work with, or your job application referees. Information about third parties should only be provided if you have demonstrable permission to do so or if the information is available in the public domain. Such information must be adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purposes for which it is being provided.
  • With regard to each visit to our website we may collect technical information about your device such as IP address, operating system, browser, time zone setting, the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our website, URL clickstream data, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page. This technology does not directly identify you and it enables us to compile statistics about our users and their use of our website, content and services.
  • We will rely on the information provided by you as accurate, complete and up to date and you agree to ensure that this will be the case.


Terms & Regulation


Price


The Price will vary depending on which services are needed from us; however I will ensure to give you a fixed fee whenever it’s possible. The fee charged may include time spent on preliminary advice, drafting and preparation time, making and receiving telephone calls, correspondence written and received in all formats, arranging legalisation and record keeping, also a VAT charge will also be comprised with the final fee. Payment can be made by cash, cheque and trough bank transfers.  Payment of my fee and disbursements is due when the document has been prepared which I may retain pending payment in full.

Some documents require legalisation before they will be accepted for use in the receiving jurisdiction by obtaining an apostille through the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, for some countries; additional legalisation is required through the relevant embassy or consulate. If you ask me to apostille or legalise documents on your behalf I will provide you with a quote in advance.

Occasionally unforeseen or unusual issues arise during the course of the matter which may result in a revision of my fee estimate. Examples of this could include where additional documents are required to be notarised, additional translations or legalisations are needed to meet the requirements of the receiving jurisdiction. I will notify you of any changes in the fee estimate as soon as possible.


Code of Practice


Notaries are appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury under an Act of Parliament from the reign of Henry VIII, the Ecclesiastical Licences Act.  This Act of Parliament created the Court of Faculties and provided for the appointment of the Master of the Faculties, who manages the business of the Court of Faculties through the Faculty Office.

The only persons authorised under the Legal Services Act to carry out notarial activities are notaries.  This is because the Master of the Faculties is the only regulator of notarial activities under the Legal Services Act and the Master of the Faculties only regulates notaries.

Notaries may also be regulated by the Master of the Faculties to carry out other Reserved Legal Activities, specifically reserved instrument activities, probate activities and the administration of oaths. 

In addition to these Reserved Legal Activities notaries may provide other legal services (but the Master of the Faculties is not a regulator of rights of audience or the  conduct of litigation). 

All other legal services provided by a notary as a notary form part of  his or her  notary’s practice and are subject generally to the regulation of the Master of the Faculties.

A notary holding a practising certificate is required to provide notarial services to the public, subject to the requirements of applicable legislation and the Master’s Rules, in particular the Practice Rules.

In common with all other Authorised Persons, notaries have the right to use the title “Commissioner for Oaths” and may be regulated for the provision of the services of a Commissioner for Oaths to the public by the Master of the Faculties or by another regulator.

Notaries are not obliged to provide conveyancing and probate services and if they do so they have a choice of regulators.  If notaries provide these services under the regulation of the Master of the Faculties, they must comply with special supervision and continuing professional education requirements.

This approved Code of Practice deals with core areas of Reserved Legal Activities generally, but also refers specifically to notarial activities and particular aspects of the provision of notarial services. Chapters 1 to 8 of the Code explain the Principles that must be applied by notaries in all services that they provide. The remaining chapters cover specific key areas of a notary’s practice and guidance for notary-conveyancers and notary-probate practitioners:

The Principles (Chapters 1 to 8)

Transparency (Chapter 9)

Accounts (Chapter 10)

Anti Money Laundering (Chapter 11)

Complaints (Chapter 12)

Conflicts of Interest (Chapter 13)

Continuing Professional Education (Chapter 14)

Data Protection (Chapter 15)

Inspections (Chapter 16)

Insurance (Chapter 17)

Record Keeping and File Storage (Chapter 18)

Supervision (Chapter 19)

Undertakings (Chapter 20)

Conveyancing (Chapter 21)

Probate (Chapter 22)

Administration of Oaths (Chapter 23)


These are all linked separately from the ‘chapters’ menu to the left.

Practice Rule 5.1 requires notaries to have regard at all times to this Code of Practice. This means that whilst the guidance and statements of best practice contained in this Code are not obligatory, a notary must be aware and take account of this Code and the statements of best practice contained in this Code when providing notarial services.

Nothing in this Code of Practice relieves a notary of the duty to comply with any statutory provision or regulatory rule. The Code of Practice is designed to help notaries to comply with their professional obligations, to safeguard the interests of their clients and the interests of all persons placing legitimate reliance on notarial acts, and to enhance professional standards.

In this Code of Practice references to a notary include a firm of notaries [Practice Rule 2.1] unless the context clearly shows otherwise, but exclude ecclesiastical notaries.


Complaints


My notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

  • The Faculty Office
  • 1, The Sanctuary
  • Westminster
  • London SW1P 3JT

Telephone 020 7222 5381

Email [email protected]

Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk


If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me.

If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute.


In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to :


  • The Secretary of The Notaries Society
  • P O Box 7655
  • Milton Keynes MK11 9NR

Email [email protected]

Tel:01908 803527


If you have any difficulty in making complaints in writing please do not hesitate to call the Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance.

Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure, or after a period of 8 weeks from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result :



If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within six months from the conclusion of the complaint process.