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Justice and court stamps: who presses what
3 September 2026 ยท Estamplab
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Open the stamp maker and start from any of these
"Justice stamp" is a phrase people search for and almost nobody uses at work, because inside the system the marks have specific names and specific owners. Four different things get called it, and only two of them are yours to make.
Open the stamp maker and start from any of these
The four marks
The court registry mark. Applied at the counter when a document is filed: the court, the registry, the date, sometimes a file number. It records receipt. It belongs to the court and is applied by court staff.
The seal of the court. The formal mark on an order, a judgment or a sealed copy. It belongs to the court, it is often prescribed by rules of court, and reproducing it is a criminal matter rather than a design decision.
The commissioner for oaths mark. Applied by a commissioner when a statutory declaration or affidavit is sworn, naming the commissioner and where the oath was taken. This one belongs to the commissioner, and if you hold that appointment it is yours to make. See the commissioner for oaths stamp.
A justice of the peace mark. In jurisdictions with lay justices, a JP mark carrying the name, the appointment and the district. Again, yours if the appointment is yours. See the justice of the peace stamp maker.
The scales and the figure of Justice that turn up on these designs are iconography rather than authority. They say what kind of document this is; they do not make the mark official.
What a commissioner mark carries
- The words identifying the office: Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public, Justice of the Peace, or the local equivalent.
- The name as appointed.
- The appointment or commission number where one is issued.
- The jurisdiction or district.
- Space for the date and the place the oath was taken, because the jurat records both.
The date and place are the lines people leave off, and they are the lines a registry checks. The justice stamp page holds the layouts.
What a law firm can make
A firm's own marks, which are not court marks at all:
- The firm identity mark for correspondence and filings. See the advocate stamp.
- A certified true copy mark, where the firm is entitled to certify copies. See certified true copy stamps.
- A received mark with the date, for the file. See the received stamp.
- A witnessed mark for execution. See the witness stamp.
Read more: The notarial mark, and what it actually attests
The honest limits
Estamplab is a design tool. This page describes common practice rather than giving legal advice, and practice differs sharply between jurisdictions. What a commissioner or notarial mark must carry is set by the authority that made the appointment, and rules of court set what a court mark carries, so check the requirement with them.
Only produce a mark you are entitled to use. Reproducing a court seal or the mark of an office you do not hold is forgery, not a shortcut.
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