Certifying Copies

Chapter five of your manual covers certifying (attesting or verifying) that a copy is a true copy of an original. This task is a very frequent one for most JPs.

There is no statutory power to certify copies and no statutory wording that must be used. Some agencies specify that it must be a JP (among certain others) who certifies copies submitted to them and they specify wording to be used, but in many cases JPs are asked to do this simply because a JP is a trusted member of the community. The wording you use can change according to the document or circumstances, though "certified true copy; original sighted" will normally suffice for a photocopy.

Photocopies are still the most common copies but you may be asked to certify a computer print out from a website or a cellphone text. If you can see the original website (having accessed it yourself with the client putting in their password) or text message on the cellphone, you can attest to the copy and change the sentence you write to reflect what occurred. e.g. "I have sighted the original website and verify this printed transcript is a true record of it".

The following activities cover aspects of the task of certifying that a copy is a true copy.

	Activity 10: Wording on copies
	Activity 11: Dealing with copies
	Activity 12: Case studies - copies
	Activity 13: If in doubt...