I have a very important document - a certificate of a qualification - which the issuing body has said they will never re-issue. Consequently, I would like to get some notarised copies made, to be kept in a safe place or used when necessary. But I don’t know what the Swiss equivalent of a notary public is or how to find one. I’m in the Suisse Romande (Neuchatel)
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
This may help:
Edited to add: I personally don’t know this company and am not recommending them. I believe the information they give is accurate though.
There’s a list of pubic notaries in Neuchatel canton that you can download from here.
If you are an American, you can go to a Consulate or the Embassy.
Any notaire can do that for you or you can get it done at your commune office.
We use the notaire in Marin, Simon Stoeckli speaks excellent English if that is important to you. They also have an office in Cortaillod.
Your local community house will have a public notary. They will take the original, make copies themselves (for anti-fraud purposes) and certify those as true copies of the original.
They are probably a more cost effective solution than companies mentioned in this thread.
Are you sure the original document(s) do not have copy protection menchanisms in place, e.g. watermarks that show up on copies or does not allow part of the document to be copied, etc?
Based on personal experience of both the commune office and one of the notaries listed in this thread the costs were exactly the same.
Other than for Swiss Government documents, many communes will NOT do this. Our’s doesn’t.
Ours will provide certified copies of documents but they will not act as a witness for a signature.
Well, I have never enquired with these companies so I dont know their costs. I have had all my documents certified by various community houses. I can say that the prices vary among different community houses, even within the same canton (some are up to 50% cheaper than others).
At every one of the community houses I have been to, they did make a note in their ‘book of certification’ the date, time, who, and what document was certified, asked for ID and also sometimes a Foreign ID if the document was of foreign origin.
I did not know about document preferences at community houses. All the ones I’ve been to in Kt ZH and Kt TG, they certified them all. Good to know this. 
Notarizing documents can vary between cantons. Check the local gemeinde, sometimes they will notarize or if not can point you to who can do it for you. If the gemeinde does it, this is typically quite cheap.
I pay CHF 20 here (German part of CH).
It was 20chf here too last time I used it both at the commune and the notary.
I think it may be a fixed rate.
Apologies but WTF is a Community house?
I assume it’s the commune office for us French speakers.
What you get when you anglisise foreign words. Gemeindehaus in German or Maison municipal? in French.
Maison communale in French.
Thank you, we mostly call it “the commune”.
It depends on how you intend to use the copies.
A notarized copy, is often nowadays worthless, since it certifies that something is a true copy, not that the original is genuine.
If you intend to use abroad (eg say USA), it may be simpler and cheaper to visit to the USA embassy to get a USA notarization on the copy, as opposed to one in the french language obtained locally. Notary services are canton-based, eg in the german speaking part it is common for the town halls to stamp copies, but in the french speaking parts they do not do this.
In the end, if it relates to a university degree for HR purposes / applying for a job, they accept an uncertified copy…or a course statement with grades from the awarding university.
PS : As far as “the issuing body said they never re-issue this certificate” , I am sure the body will provide some statement or proof that you have it, even if the original certificate is gone missing. I mean, even royal “letters patent” on parchment signed by the king of england can be re-issued, if lost, or confirmed by the national archives.
They do in Neuchâtel, I have done it at our commune office many times.