What is the difference between a Solicitor and a Notary Public ?

Solicitors form by far the largest part of the legal profession in England and Wales, providing advice and representation to their clients in the vast majority of fields of law whether civil or criminal, contentious or non-contentious, national or international. Notaries, on the other hand, form a small, highly specialised branch of the legal profession, whose main area of specialisation is the preparation and certification of documents so that they may be effective abroad. A solicitor is not a proper person to certify documents which are intended to be used outside England and Wales – this is the role of a notary. One important difference between a notary and a solicitor is that whereas a solicitor’s primary duty is to his client, the notary’s primary duty is to the world at large and to anyone who places reliance on his notarial act. This means that a notary must always be independent and impartial. A notary’s acts can be relied upon as an accurate statement of the facts the world over.