General links
The Notaries Society
The Notaries Society represents over 800 general notaries who practice throughout England and Wales.
The Society of Scrivener Notaries
The Society of Scrivener Notaries represents scrivener notaries who practise in London.
The Faculty Office
The Faculty Office regulates the profession of notaries and is responsible for setting the qualification requirements and overseeing the application process.
The Legal Services Board
The independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales
The Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales was set up by the Office for Legal Complaints under the Legal Services Act 2007.
The Legal Services Consumer Panel
provides independent advice to the Legal Services Board about the interests of users of legal services.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The legalisation department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is the only competent authority to issue apostilles.
Verifying qualifications
Higher Education Degree DatacheckUK's official online degree verification service. HEDD is a secure online verification service allowing you to check that a UK university or college is or has been recognised as a degree-awarding body by the UK Government at a given time since 1990.
Website: www.hedd.ac.uk
BIS : Government policy on degree awarding bodies
The United Kingdom (UK) has a well-deserved reputation world-wide for providing high quality and reputable higher education. There are 159 institutions in the UK that are permitted to award a wide variety of degrees to suit most educational aspirations recognised by Department of Business Innovation & Skills.
Website: www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/recognised-uk-degrees
The Register of Regulated Qualifications
The Register of Regulated Qualifications contains details of Recognised Awarding Organisations and Regulated Qualifications in England (Ofqual), Wales (DfES) and Northern Ireland (Ofqual for vocational qualifications and CCEA for all other qualifications).
Website: register.ofqual.gov.uk
The Council for National Academic Awards
The Council for National Academic Awards [CNAA] was the largest single degree-awarding body in the United Kingdom. The CNAA was abolished by the 1992 UK Further and The Open University accepted responsibility for the care and maintenance of certain CNAA records and for providing appropriate access to them.
Website: www.open.ac.uk/about/validate/cnaa-aftercare-service
UK NARIC
UK NARIC is the National Agency responsible for providing information, advice and expert opinion on qualifications worldwide. Working on behalf of the UK Government they provide a range of services which compare international qualifications.
Website: ecctis.co.uk/naric/
International adoptions
The Hague Conference on Private International LawSince 1893, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, a melting pot of different legal traditions, has developed and serviced Conventions which respond to global needs.
Website: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php
The Department for Education
This website contains a comprehensive introduction to the requirements for adopting children from overseas and has a link to a page containing country specific requirements.
Website: http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/adoption/intercountryadoption
Spanish Wills Registry
Registro General de Actos de Última VoluntadPlaza Jacinta Benavente 3, Planta Baja
28012 Madrid
España.
Teléfono: 00 34 91 389 53 22
www.mjusticia.gob.es
BS 18477
British Standards InstitutionInclusive service provision. Requirements for identifying and responding to consumer vulnerability