我國公證人為拉丁公證人制度，與美國的公證人不同，詳如下述

The Taiwan notary and the North American notary public

I have been asked to explain the difference between the Taiwan notary and the notary public of the United States and Canada .

1.Legal education(法學教育養成不同)

Notaries in Taiwan receive a full legal education and pass a examination before being admitted to the profession. North American notaries public(not including Quebec and Louisiana ) are not subject to any prerequisite other than being persons of good reputation with basic educations. As such, the notary public is not a professional but strictly a commissioned clerk.

2.Legal counselling or advice(法律諮詢與建議提供之功能有所不同)

Legal counselling is an essential part of the Taiwan notary's function.The North American notary public is neither permitted nor competent to give legal advice.

3.Appointment(任免不同)

The Taiwan notary is licensed until 70 years old and may be suspended for ethical or criminal reasons only. The North American notary public's commission expires with time.

4.Certification authority(證明界限不同)

The Taiwan notary is not obliged to testify before a court of justice with respect to notarial instruments unless their authenticity is challenged. Notarial deeds are proof in themselves.

The North American notary public has the power to certify, but his certification has limited probative effect. In the United States, a notarial seal means that certification is presumed to be authentic and clear, and convincing evidence must be brought to rebut certification. However, this presumption covers only the acknowledgement and genuineness of signature.

5.Difference between civil law and common law(於民事法律或普通法上功能不同)

The distinction between the powers of certification of the Taiwan notary and the notary public calls for a few words on the essential philosophical approaches of the civil law and common law systems.

The common law was a non-codified set of rules of law issued from the corpus of court decisions.An almost complete absence of formalism in contracting, finds its source in the high moralistic values of a puritan society where one's word and a handshake were to be honoured in virtually all instances.

For civil law lawyers, testimonial evidence is seen as temporary and susceptible to many subjective factors that might affect its value. Documentary evidence on the other hand is perceived as more objective and more reliable because it is contemporaneous with the act or accord amongst the parties and because it is prepared prior to the inception of litigation, not to mention the weaknesses of human beings, memory being an example.

In the civil law system, the written word is paramount in judicial proceedings, and the notarial document has been singled out for its particular probative value.

6.What does a Taiwan Notary can do for you?

Taiwan(Republic of China) is a country with the Latin notarial system(Civil law notary system).Taiwan notaries can notarize or attest a contract, will, statutory declaration, affidavit, certified copy, certified translation ,or any other legal document.

全文引自周家寅公證人部落格

Originally from:

The Quidad Notary Public Office of Taiwan Taipei District Court

CIVIL LAW NOTARY(NOTARY PUBLIC)

MR. CHOU,CHIA-YIN

6F , NO. 6 , SIANG-YANG RD. , CHUNG-CHENG DISTRICT,

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN.