NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) g CAP. 408.  1
CHAPTER 408
NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) 
ACT
To make provision for the deposit of Notarial Acts at the Archives before
they are inspected in terms of article 117 of the Notarial Profession and
Notarial Archives Act, Cap. 55.
12th July, 1999
Act X of 1999, as amended by Act VI of 2001.
Short title.
Provisions) Act.
Interpretation. 
"archives" and "archivist" mean the archives and the archivist
referred to in article 95 of the Notarial Law;
"Court of Revision" means the Court of Revision of Notarial
Acts referred to in article 110 of the Notarial Law;
Cap. 296.
"Land Registry applications" means applications made pursuant
to the provisions of the Land Registration Act;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the Notarial
Archives;
Cap. 55.
"Notarial Law" means the Notarial Profession and Notarial
Archives Act;
Cap. 56.
"Public Registry Notes" means notes entered in the Public
Registry pursuant to the Notarial Law or the Public Registry Act;
"special commissioner" means a special commissioner for
Notarial Acts appointed in terms of article 3;
"uninspected notarial acts" and "uninspected acts" mean those
original notarial acts which have not been inspected and deposited
in the archives in accordance with article 117 of Notarial Law.
(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, indices, notarial acts,
registers and volumes refer to such expressions as used in Notarial
Law.
Special 
commissioner for 
notarial acts.
Amended by:
VI. 2001.31.
3. (1) The Minister shall by not later than two months from
the coming into force of this Act appoint a special commissioner
for notarial acts having the powers and functions set out in this Act. 
(2) The Minister may at any time appoint further special
commissioners as circumstances may demand.
(3) A special commissioner shall be appointed by the Minister
for a term not exceeding three years as may be established in his
letter of appointment and may be reappointed for further periods
each of not more than eighteen months.
(4) ( a ) No person shall be qualified to be appointed as special
commissioner unless he -
2 g CAP. 408. NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS)
(i) is a retired judge or a retired magistrate; or
(ii) is a notary who has retired from legal practice;
or
(iii) is an advocate or a legal procurator; or
(iv) is a public officer in Government employment
not below the rank of principal:
Provided that a public officer who is posted
at the archives shall not be qualified to be
appointed as special commissioner.
( b ) A special commissioner who is not a retired judge or a
retired magistrate, or a retired notary, advocate or legal
procurator, shall be debarred from inspecting wills.
( c) A special commissioner shall not start inspecting acts
unless he has taken before the Attorney General the
oath of office in the following terms:
"I, .....:.............. swear to exercise to the best of my ability
the office of Special Commissioner for Notarial Acts.
So help me God.".
Notary may 
request deposit of 
uninspected acts.
4. (1) Every notary may request to deposit at the archives any
uninspected notarial acts received by him.
Provided that no such request may be made in respect of
uninspected acts received by the notary after June of the year in
which the request is made if the request is made after June in any
year, and after December of the preceding year if the request is
made before June in any year.
(2) Such a request shall be made by means of an application
filed in the Court of Revision requesting the special commissioner
to fix the date, time and place when the special commissioner shall
inspect the notarial acts.
(3) Together with the application the notary shall file a note
indicating:
( a ) the number of volumes of acts inter vivos and wills to
which the request refers;
( b ) the number of acts in each volume;
( c ) the number of pages in each volume indicating the
number of the first and last page;
( d ) the progressive number of the first act and of the last
act in each volume;
( e ) the date of the first and of the last act in each volume;
( f ) a declaration stating that the registers of the said acts
have been prepared; and
( g ) a declaration that all public registry notes have been
filed in the Public Registry and all Land Registry
applications relative to the acts contained in the
volumes have been lodged.
(4) The application and note filed in accordance with this
article shall be served on the special commissioner by the Registrar
NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) g CAP. 408.  3
of the Court of Revision within three working days of their filing.
(5) ( a ) The special commissioner shall, by not later than one
month from the date of filing of the application made
according to sub-article (2), by summons under his
hand, call on the Notary to produce the uninspected
acts in bound form together with their respective
indices at such date, time and place as indicated in the
summons and each volume shall be inspected by the
special commissioner but only to ascertain that the
note filed in accordance with sub-article (3) is correct
as to the particulars referred to in paragraphs ( b ) to ( e )
of the same sub-article of this article in respect of each
volume.
( b ) The special commissioner may ask the Notary, where
possible, to correct any inaccuracies in the
enumeration of acts, their pagination and in their
sequence.
( c ) The special commissioner shall on the last page of each
volume enter and sign a declaration that such volume
has been inspected by him in accordance with this Act.
(6) ( a ) The special commissioner shall further, make a  procès-
verbal  of such inspection indicating any discrepancy
resulting from the particulars given in the note filed
according to sub-article (3). The  procès-verbal  shall be
signed by the special commissioner and the notary.
Together with the  procès-verbal  the special
commissioner shall annex a copy of the aforesaid note,
which shall also be signed by the special commissioner
and the notary.
( b ) Within seven working days from date of the  procès-
verbal  the special commissioner shall cause -
(i) a copy thereof to be filed in the registry of the
Court of Revision; and
(ii) a copy thereof to be served on the notary.
(7) Within fifteen working days from the date of the  procès-
verbal  mentioned in sub-article (6), the special commissioner shall
deposit in the archives the volumes of original acts inspected by
him and their relative indices. The special commissioner shall
deliver two copies of the  procès-verbal  to the archivist who shall
acknowledge receipt of the volumes and indices by signing one of
them and returning it to the special commissioner.
(8) As soon as the volumes and indices are handed over to the
archivist, they shall be deemed to have been regularly deposited
thereat in accordance with the provisions of Notarial Law.
Provided that nothing herein contained shall preclude the
carrying out of an inspection in accordance with the provisions of
Notarial Law of the Acts so deposited and their respective registers.
Such inspection of Acts deposited in the archives shall be carried
out at the archives.
4 g CAP. 408. NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS)
(9) The provisions of the foregoing sub-articles shall apply
mutatis mutandis to a notary with respect to uninspected notarial
acts of which he is a keeper in terms of Notarial Law.
Compulsory 
deposit.
5. (1) Each notary, shall, by not later than 1st October, 2000,
file in the registry of the Court of Revision a note containing the
information and declarations referred to in article 4(3) in respect of
any uninspected acts received by him up to the 30th June, 2000.
(2) The notes filed in accordance with this sub-article shall be
served on the special commissioner for Notarial Acts within three
working days.
(3) A notary who has not prepared all the registers in respect
of uninspected acts to which this article refers shall indicate in the
note the acts in respect of which the registers are still to be drawn
up.
(4) A notary who has not yet filed all the Public Registry notes
or lodged all Land Registry applications in connection with or
pursuant to uninspected acts to which this article refers shall
indicate þ in the note the acts in respect of which such notes and
applications have not been filed or lodged.
(5) Every notary shall within one year from the note made in
accordance with sub-article (1) prepare the registers that still
require to be drawn up.
(6) Every notary shall within two months from the said note
enter in the Public Registry such notes that still require to be
entered in the Public Registry and lodge in the Land Registry the
applications that still require to be lodged therein.
Cap. 296.
(7) Without prejudice to any civil liability for damages
incurred in connection therewith, where any of the registers have
not been prepared or any Public Registry notes have not been
entered or any Land Registry applications have not been lodged, no
disciplinary penalty may be imposed in accordance with Notarial
Law and the Land Registration Act in respect of any such omission
declared in accordance with sub-articles (3) and (4) provided that
the registers are prepared within the period specified in sub-article
(5) and all the notes entered and applications lodged within the
period specified in sub-article (6).
(8) Notwithstanding any provision of the Notarial Law, a
Notary who has made a declaration in accordance with sub-article
(3) hereof may prepare any such register to which the declaration
refers, in whole or in part, by photocopying on plain paper the
original acts and the documents annexed thereto.
(9) A notary who has made a declaration in accordance with
sub-articles (3) or (4) shall within one year from the declaration
referred to in sub-article (1) in the case of the registers and within
two months from the said declaration in the case of the Public
Registry notes and Land Registry applications, file separate notes
in the Court of Revision indicating that all outstanding registers
referred to in the declaration have been prepared and all the notes
and applications referred to in the declaration have been entered or
lodged. The notes filed in accordance with this sub-article shall be
NOTARIAL ACTS (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) g CAP. 408.  5
served within three working days on the special commissioner.
(10) The provisions of the foregoing sub-articles shall apply
mutatis mutandis  to a notary with respect to uninspected notarial
acts of which he is a keeper in terms of the Notarial Law.
Inspection of acts 
to which article 5 
refers.
6. (1) The special commissioner shall from time to time, after
1st October, 2001, by summons under his hand, call on notaries
having uninspected acts to which article 5 refers to produce any or
all such uninspected notarial acts in bound form with their
respective indices at such date, time and place as indicated in the
summons and each volume shall be inspected by the special
commissioner limitedly to ascertain that the particulars referred to
in article 4(3)( b ) to ( e ) as contained in the note made in accordance
with article 5 are correct.
(2) Article 4(6) to (9) shall apply to the inspection carried out
by the special commissioner according to sub-article (1).
(3) The provisions of the foregoing sub-articles shall apply
mutatis mutandis  to a notary with respect to uninspected notarial
acts of which he is a keeper in terms of the Notarial Law.
Penalties for 
contraventions of 
this Act.
7. Any notary who contravenes any of the provisions of the
Act shall be guilty of a breach of duty and shall be liable to the
disciplinary punishment contemplated in article 132 of the Notarial
Law. Such punishment shall be imposed by the Court of Revision
following procedures which shall be initiated by an application
filed for the purpose by the special commissioner. The provisions
of article 112 and of Title II of Part VI of the Notarial Law shall
apply to such disciplinary punishment.
Power to make 
regulations.
8. The Minister may make regulations generally for the better
carrying out of the provisions of this Act and in particular may -
( a ) prescribe any procedure that is to be followed in
carrying out the provisions of this Act, and
( b ) extend the provisions of this Act to uninspected
notarial acts received after the 30th June, 2000.
