Who is a notary public in English Law ?

Answer 1

Notaries are virtually never used for English, Scottish & Northern Irish transactions in land, etc. the way they are in the USA. Nor are they used for wills as they are, for example, in Switzerland and Louisiana or for will attestation clauses as optionally done in New York).

Instead, contracts and other documents that would be notarized in the USA are "signed as a deed" before one or more witnesses.

Notaries public do exist, but almost exclusively for documents to be used abroad. The US Embassy has a good explanation of the procedure, and compares it with the consular notarization system: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new//acs/scs/notary.html (also see the further links provided at that site)

The State Department site explains the operation of The Hague Convention on legalization (apostilles): http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/c1267.htm
http://travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_701.html
http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/c16921.htm
http://travel.state.gov/about/info/customer/customer_312.html
http://travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_2545.html

Notarization in the UK is expensive -- £30 or so per document, plus additional charges for an apostille. (Apostille is only applicable to UK notarizations to be used in foreign courts; a consular or JAG notarization is deemed "American"; in principle the consular signature can be verified by the State Dept. Bureau of Consular Affairs in Washington but I have never known this to be required or useful, the Embassy's consular seal serving the purpose.) I have known occasions when it proved more practical to fly to the US to undertake notarization. (For active and retired US military, and for active USG employees, the Judge Advocate General's office in US Navy Headquarters in London, and the US Consular Section, both provide notarization services free of charge.)

Answer 2

Notary public is one who verifies legal documents that these are validly executed and attested in their presence making it a public document and enforceable against the world.

Answer 3

this should help

http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/