College Chairman meets with Master of Faculties and the President of the English Society of Notaries

After attending the 2016 e-APP Forum and the Special Commission on the Hague Apostille convention in The Hague College Chairman Joseph Lukaitis travelled to London during the second week in November and took the opportunity to meet with the President of the English Society of Notaries, Mrs Sally Osborne and with Charles George QC, Master of the Faculties.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss the College’s opposition to the creation of “civil partnership notaries” in Queensland and to seek the Masters intervention in the matter. Queensland and New Zealand Notaries are still appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury through the Court of Faculties pursuant to the Ecclesiastical Licenses Act 1553.

At the Faculty Office, Joseph also took the opportunity to inspect his entry in the roll book dating back to the grant of his faculty in 1992.

Pictured above: Mrs Sally Osborne, President of the English Society of Notaries

Pictured above: Mr. Charles George QC, Master of Faculties (right) with the Chairman of the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries, Joseph Lukaitis (left)

About the Master of the Faculties

The Master of the Faculties is the overall head of the Faculty Office, and is the Approved Regulator of Notaries in England & Wales. The current Master is Charles George QC. Called to the Bar in 1974, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992. As the most senior ecclesiastical judge in England, he is Dean of the Arches and Auditor of the Chancery Court of York. He is a Deputy High Court Judge, a Recorder of the Crown Court, a Bencher of the Inner Temple, Visiting Lecturer in European Environmental Law and Visiting Fellow of the Centre of European Law, both at King’s College London.

The Registrar oversees the day-to-day running of the Faculty Office. The role of Registrar is currently held jointly by Peter Beesley and Howard Dellar. The Joint Registrars are assisted by a small team of Clerks and other support staff, led by the Chief Clerk, Stephen Borton.