THE President of Guyana Justices of the Peace (JP) and Commissioners of Oaths to Affidavits (COA) association, Mr. Hermon Bholaisingh is calling on all its members to adhere steadfastly to correct practice when witnessing documents. This ……..is relevant and timely since at its recently held statutory meeting members reported that general the public is still sending documents to be witnessed without the presence of the deponents. Perhaps the simplest and most frequently encountered application is the request for JPs/COAs to witness a signature. There is literally no limit to the number of documents which may require a signature to be witnessed. Examples may include declaration with respect to registration of births or damage to documents. It is vitally important that the person witnessing the document needs the document to satisfy himself/herself that their signature will be satisfactory to the person or authority to whom it is going to be submitted in due course.

Most will specify a list of individuals whose signature will be accepted – usual suspects in addition to JPs/COAs being ministers of religion (which will not be taken as including only the Christian religion), solicitors, doctors, established civil servants and police officers. Not every such document will actually specify a JP/COA as being an acceptable signatory, especially if it comes from an overseas jurisdiction where the role does not exist, and it has not been unknown for disappointed individuals to find that they have to start again.

If the individual making the application is not known to you, then you should always ask for some form of visual identification such as a passport or national identification card. The signature should be attached to the document in your presence – you should never be prepared to witness a pre-written signature. If your signature is not readily legible, then you should write your full name underneath followed by your qualification “Justice of Peace”.

The second request which is frequently is for you to attest to the identity of a person whose photograph is attached to a document. The one you are most likely to meet is passport applications. Again you should carefully study the document before placing any signature – in this case you are being asked to conform that you have known the applicant for a significant period of time in addition to certifying that the photograph is an accurate likeness.

It may finally be worth drawing attention to a rather underused power available to JPs/COAs which allows for an affidavit being used in connection with any piece of civil proceedings in the High Court or the Magistrate Court to be sworn (for affirmed) before any one of a number of people including an Justice of Peace/COA you will need to satisfy yourself that the document which the deponent is swearing complies with the requirements of the rules. You should also be aware that it is your responsibility to complete the ‘jural’ which contains the signature of the deponent and the name, qualification and address of the person before whom the document is being sworn. There is no reason why the address should not be a professional one.
HERMON BHOLAISINGH