News and announcements Important new requirements for confirming identity Effective from 30 April 2012, JPs must take additional steps to identify a person who is making a NSW statutory declaration or affidavit. The additional steps will be detailed in Ruling 003, to be released by the Attorney General shortly. Every JP should read and follow the Ruling carefully. A copy of Ruling 003 will be sent to all current JPs throughout March 2012, either by email or post. Further information about the new requirements will be in Issue No. 2 of JP News, which will also be sent to all current JPs throughout March 2012. The new requirements are the result of changes to the Oaths Act 1900, and are detailed in Part 2 of the Oaths Regulation 2011. JPs warned regarding spam SMS about stamps A number of JPs have advised they have received a SMS text message from a company that sells Oaths Act 1900 stamps. The Department of Attorney General and Justice does not endorse stamp suppliers, and did not send or authorise these particular SMS messages. To help JPs meet the requirements of the Oaths Regulation 2011, the Department has encouraged producers of forms which contain NSW statutory declarations or affidavits to update them with the required certification wording, and to re-issue them by 30 April 2012. While it is possible that after 30 April 2012 JPs will come across older versions of the forms, there may be some practical limitations to the use of a stamp to add the certification. These include that some forms may not have adequate blank space in the shape of the stamp, and that the stamp may quickly become redundant once all forms have been updated. There is no obligation for JPs to purchase a stamp in order to meet the requirements of the Oaths Regulation 2011.