Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

In corporations, the normal phraseology is "signed and sealed in the presence of". That is clear English. I agree there is probably a practice where a person may sign the deeds, contract or whatever at home and post them back to the solicitor who will know the signature and will get somebody to sign as witness. That is short-circuiting. If there were a problem subsequently and somebody claimed it was not his or her signature, there would be a real issue about the fact the person did not witness it. Any deviation from the requirement that one must be present and see the signature being made if one witnesses a signature could cause legal problems down the line.