Role of Commissioner for Oaths for Québec
Some legislation requires a person to be sworn before signing a document or testifying. This formality makes the document or testimony more official or credible, all the more so as a person who knowingly states false or misleading information under oath is liable to charges of perjury under the Criminal Code .
In Québec, Commissioners for Oaths are appointed by the Minister of Justice for a renewable period of three years. Their role is to administer oaths to individuals in the cases where an oath is required or permitted by law.
Powers and restrictions
A Commissioner for Oaths may:
- administer oaths in Québec for a procedure or a document intended for Québec only;
- require a maximum fee of $5 for each oath.
A Commissioner for Oaths can not:
- administer oaths of their immediate family members (father, mother, brothers and sisters, spouse, children);
- certify documents or attest that a copy of a document is in accordance to the original. A Commissioner for Oaths is not appointed to perform such a function. The only power that the law grants him or her is to administer oaths to individuals in the cases where an oath is required or permitted by law. Under these circumstances, he or she may, at most, administer an oath to a person who presents him or her a copy of a document and who declares that it is in accordance to the original document. However, this declaration would not have the effect of giving a true value to this copy, because the depository of an original document has this power only (for example, the notary for the notarial will, the registrar of civil status for a birth certificate).
Responsibilities
The only responsibility of a Commissioner for Oaths is to administer oaths. He or she is not obliged to verify the content of the declaration. In fact, it is to the person swearing an oath to know the content of the document that he or she sworn in.
On the other hand, Commissioners for Oaths may refuse to administer an oath for some reasons.
Here are the main reasons for a refusal:
- the document is not prepared in the required form;
- the document contains glaring errors, vulgar or unreasonable assertions;
- the person swearing an oath is not able to express his or her will.
Check the authorization of a Commissioner for Oaths here.
Name: Riham Al Bakouni
Commissioner No. 227771
Judicial district: Québec
Date of the oath (as applicable)
Bakouni 