Sheikh Najam Appointed Vice President for Notarial Affairs at Justinian Lawyers
Sheikh Najam, Notary Public for England and Wales and principal of Staple Inn Notaries in Central London, has been appointed Vice President for Notarial Affairs and Advisory Board Member at Justinian Lawyers, the Berlin-headquartered international network of the Association of European Attorneys (AEA). The appointment places Sheikh Najam alongside a panel of specialist practice-area vice presidents drawn from jurisdictions across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East, and gives the London notarial practice a formal advisory role within one of Europe's cross-border legal networks.
Sheikh Najam's appointment is listed on Justinian Lawyers' official Advisory Board page, where he appears as Notarial Affairs Vice President representing the United Kingdom.
What the Appointment Involves
As Notarial Affairs Vice President, Sheikh Najam sits on Justinian Lawyers' international Advisory Board, contributing notarial and cross-border legal expertise to the network's member firms and clients. Justinian Lawyers brings together practitioners across areas including corporate law, banking and finance, international trade, real estate, and immigration, with each area represented by a designated vice president. The notarial affairs portfolio reflects the increasing demand among the network's international members for documents to be notarised, apostilled, or legalised correctly for use in a different jurisdiction — precisely the area in which Sheikh Najam's London practice specialises.
Why This Matters for Staple Inn Notaries' Clients
For individuals and businesses instructing Sheikh Najam in London, the appointment reinforces an already established specialism: preparing documents so that they are accepted by foreign registries, banks, courts, and consulates. It also connects the practice to a wider international referral network, which can be of practical benefit where a client's matter touches more than one jurisdiction — for example, a power of attorney notarised in London for use in a civil law country, or a corporate document requiring both UK notarisation and subsequent authentication abroad.
The Role of a Notary: Europe and England & Wales
Across continental Europe, the notary is a central figure in non-contentious legal work. In civil law jurisdictions such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, notaries draft and execute the underlying legal document itself, act as impartial adviser to every party involved, and hold deeds with direct enforceability, meaning many can be relied upon without separate court proceedings. Civil law notaries commonly complete property conveyancing, draft wills and administer estates, incorporate companies, and advise on the tax due on a transaction — all as part of a single, state-regulated appointment.
England and Wales notaries share this same tradition far more closely than is commonly understood. Notaries here are, in the words of their representative body, authorised and empowered to carry out all types of legal work carried out by solicitors, other than contentious work, just as notaries do in civil law jurisdictions. In practice, this means a notary's authorised scope extends well beyond authenticating signatures, to include:
Conveyancing and other property transactions
Wills, probate, and the administration of estates
Company formation and corporate transactions
General non-contentious commercial and private client work
Where an English notary's role does differ is in the balance of day-to-day work: because most notarial acts in England and Wales are prepared for use outside the jurisdiction, authenticating documents, powers of attorney, and corporate and personal records for overseas registries, courts, banks, and consulates makes up the bulk of most practices. The Faculty Office is clear that this core function, attesting the authenticity of deeds and documents, involves far more than simple certification: it requires verifying identity, legal capacity, and genuine understanding of the transaction, the same substantive checks a civil law notary performs before executing a deed.
Sheikh Najam's practice at Staple Inn Notaries reflects this full breadth — combining notarial authentication for overseas use with advisory work across cross-border corporate and property matters, informed by his training across Common Law, Civil Law, and International Law systems.
About Sheikh Najam
Sheikh Najam is a Notary Public for England and Wales, a European Attorney, and a STEP-qualified International Private Wealth Lawyer, trained across Common Law, Civil Law, and International Law systems. He is appointed by the Court of Faculties under Royal Authority and regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury — a distinct chain of appointment and oversight that is unique to the notarial profession in England and Wales. Through Staple Inn Notaries, based at Fox Court, Gray's Inn Road, he advises on cross-border corporate and property matters and provides notarisation, apostille, and legalisation services to clients across all jurisdictions worldwide.
About Justinian Lawyers
Justinian Lawyers is the international legal network operated by the Association of European Attorneys (AEA), headquartered in Berlin. The network's Advisory Board is structured around specialist areas of law — including corporate law and M&A, banking and insolvency, real estate, international trade, and notarial affairs — with a vice president representing each area from a member jurisdiction. Sheikh Najam represents the United Kingdom on the Advisory Board and leads on notarial affairs across the network.
Notary Services in Central London
Staple Inn Notaries provides notarial services from its Fox Court office on Gray's Inn Road, covering Mayfair, Chancery Lane, Farringdon, the City of London, Soho, Holborn, Covent Garden, Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, and Westminster, with same-day and mobile appointments available. Services include notarisation of powers of attorney, corporate and property documents, and personal documents, together with advice on apostille and embassy legalisation for use overseas.
To instruct Sheikh Najam or arrange a notary appointment in Central London, contact Staple Inn Notaries on 020 3488 4195 or visit internationalnotary.co.uk.
Comments