IV.   Consensus

Acknowledgment is an Act or Certificate by which a person affirms, avows or admits the truth of certain facts of some previous related instrument, including its genuineness and its execution as a voluntary act or deed. As an instrument, Acknowledgment is the name of the Certificate properly signed and sealed by an authorized officer.

The word Acknowledgment 16th Century English word from Latin actus="doing, action, esp. on stage", Old English knowlechen = "admit" and Latin mentis = "mind, thought, intention". Hence, the original etymology of acknowledgment is “the action of admitting mind, thought or intention”.

As a true Deed of conveyance must prove not only the validity of the Consensus outlined within the Instrument, but the event of its signing and sealing, the perfection of a Certificate of Acknowledgement within Western Law represents the perfection of a Deed.