New South Wales Consolidated Acts

OATHS ACT 1900 - SECT 34

34 Identification of person making statutory declaration or affidavit

(1) A person who takes and receives a statutory declaration or affidavit in this State (an
"authorised witness" )--

(a) must see the face of the person making the declaration or affidavit, and

(b) must know the person who makes the declaration or affidavit or confirm the person's identity in accordance with the regulations, and

(c) must certify on the declaration or affidavit in accordance with the regulations that this section has been complied with.

Maximum penalty (on summary conviction before the Local Court): 2 penalty units.

(2) An authorised witness may request a person who is seeking to make a statutory declaration or affidavit to remove so much of any face covering worn by the person as prevents the authorised witness from seeing the person's face.

(3) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to compliance with this section and, in particular, may--

(a) provide that a person is not known to an authorised witness unless the authorised witness has known the person for a minimum specified period, and

(b) provide for the steps that will satisfy the requirement to confirm the identity of a person making a statutory declaration or affidavit (including prescribing the kinds of documentation that may or must be relied on for that purpose), and

(c) exempt an authorised witness from the requirement to comply with subsection (1) (a) for medical or other reasons.

(4) A failure to comply with this section does not affect the validity of any statutory declaration or affidavit.

(4A) This section does not apply in respect of a person who takes and receives a statutory declaration or affidavit if the declaration or affidavit is made or required to be made--

(a) for the purposes of proceedings in--

(i) the High Court, or

(ii) the Federal Court, or

(iii) the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, or

(v) any other court created by the Commonwealth Parliament, or

(b) for the purposes of, or in connection with, any matter arising under, a law of the Commonwealth, or

(c) in connection with the administration of a Commonwealth Government department or agency.

(5) In this section--

"face" and
"face covering" have the same meanings as they have in the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 .