Oaths

I've just had to fill in a statutory declaration and had the usual problem finding a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public or Practising Solicitor to witness it. Apart from the difficulties of finding one there is the frustrating time commitment required to do so.

For many, many years I was a Justice of the Peace. I was sworn in as one at my local courthouse on my 18th birthday. I had no training or special qualifications, in fact I hadn't even completed my first university degree. I was simply a callow university student with pretensions. I did receive, at my swearing in, a booklet with tips for being a JP, which I studiously read and referred to subsequently.

In thinking about these things I wonder why a JP (or the like) is still required to witness a legal document such as a stat dec. Why couldn't one of the people in the office do it? Some years ago it might have been me witnessing someones signature and let's face it, I didn't really add any value to proceedings.

I imagine it is a now anachronistic throw-back to the days when JP's and notary publics were the landed gentry and the only ones who could be entrusted with such an important task - we couldn't have the rank-and-file stepping above their status to do such a thing.

Surely in 2009 we could do away with it all and allow fellow citizens to witness? Why don't we? I suspect no one is challenging the status quo.

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