Professor Zablud is an Australian Lawyer and Notary. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre and at the Victoria Law School, Victoria University.

He is held in the highest regard throughout the common law world for his commitment to excellence, the advancement of the notariat and his outstanding contribution to the education of prospective and practising notaries.

He is considered to be a leading world expert on the Hague Apostille Convention and the authentication of documents for cross-border purposes.

Professor Zablud was the inaugural Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries and is a Distinguished Fellow of the College.

He is also a Life Member and a Fellow of the Society of Notaries of Victoria and is a Councillor and past-President of the Society.

As Director of Notarial Studies at the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, Professor Zablud designed and is responsible for the presentation of the Professional Course in Notarial Practice – the pre-eminent qualification for notaries in Australia and one of the outstanding courses of education of its kind in the common law world.

Portfolios

Areas of expertise

  • Educating prospective and practising common law notaries
  • International notarial practice
  • The origins, development and practices of the American notariat

Contact details

(03) 9919 1843
peter.zablud@vu.edu.au

Recent Publications

Books

Principles of Notarial Practice, 2nd Edition, The Notary Press, Melbourne ( 2016)

Notarizing for International Use - A Guide for American Notaries, Attorneys and Public Officials, The Notary Press, Melbourne (2012)

Principles of Notarial Practice, Psophidian Press, Melbourne (2005)

A Notary's Forms and Precedents, Psophidian Press, Melbourne.

Book chapters

The 1961 Apostille Convention – authenticating documents for international use in Thomas John et al (eds) The Elgar Companion to the Hague Convention on Private International Law  (Edward Elgar Publishing, London, 2020), 275.

Recent papers

Online Notarial Intervention in Victoria (2021)

Legalising Documents for Production in Mainland China (2020)

Certifying Educational Documents for International Use (2020)

The Oaths and Affirmation Act 2018 (Vic) as it relates to Notarial Practice in Victoria (2019)

Notarial Intervention in Intellectual Property Transactions  ( 2018) 

Five Centuries of Notarial Signs, (2017).

Professional memberships

  • ACLEA - The Association for Continuing Legal Education (USA)
  • The Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries
  • European Society of International Law
  • International Bar Association
  • International Union of Notaries (Individual Member)
  • Law Council of Australia (International Law Section)
  • Law Institute of Victoria
  • National Notary Association (USA)
  • The Notaries Society of England and Wales (Honorary Member)
  • Society of Legal Scholars (UK)
  • Society of Notaries of South Australia (Honorary Member)
  • Society of Notaries of Victoria.

Research interests

Professor Zablud’s research interests include:

  • the emergence and development of the notariat in South Asia and South East Asia
  • electronic notarial acts and the electronic authentication of documents for cross-border production
  • the origins, development, function and influence of the American notariat.

Awards

  • Reserve Force Decoration (RFD) and National Medal - for service as an officer in the Citizens’ Military Force/Australian Army Reserve (from 1965).
  • Distinguished Fellow of The Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries (Dist.FANZCN) for “Outstanding Service to the College and the International Common Law Notariat” (2012).
  • Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - awarded for significant service to the law and to legal standards and education particularly in the field of notarial studies (2017).
  • Honorary Membership of the Notaries Society of England and Wales conferred "in view of [his] work and substantial achievements, in relation to the notarial profession, not only in Australia but also worldwide" (2017).