A Yukon Supreme Court justice has stripped a local notary public of his ability to charge for witnessing documents after complaints were received about the man's competence.

The Yukon Government and the registrar of the Society of Notaries Public in the territory requested the move after they received complaints about Clifford Hanna, who was sworn in as a notary two years ago.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale said Hanna doesn't understand the role of a notary, and has a profound misunderstanding of the law and legal documents.

Veale noted complaints from a lawyer in Alberta who said Hanna notarized documents for two Albertans although he had absolutely no authority to do so and was not there when they signed the documents.

Veale also said Hanna displayed a misunderstanding of the law by sending a strange document to the Attorney General of Canada that Hanna called a schedule of his fees. Hanna wrote that the attorney general would owe him $1,000 an hour if he were ever questioned or harassed by police.

Hanna was not in court but Veale said the man was given adequate notice of the action against him and he revoked Hanna’s authority as a notary effective immediately.