[chrisseaton]

Yes there's still some funny distinctions being made - like in the UK some apartments are advertised as 'professionals only' and only 'professionals, teachers, and police officers' are allowed to sign and witness some documents I believe for some reason.

[jeffbee]

Wow. In California it is not lawful to even advertise housing that way, much less actually enforce it.

[pmyteh]

The list of people who can witness passport applications in the UK is quite interesting. It's got all the usual jobs you'd expect (lawyers, doctors, clergy etc.) and then a set of other jobs which are wildly diverse: childminders, for example, accountants, military officers...

The common factor turns out to be accountability. If the childminder falsely certifies an application, Ofsted will revoke her registration for dishonesty. A military officer will be cashiered. A teacher sacked and added to the barring list. So even those posts which are not 'professional' have enough consequences for acting falsely that the state relies on them to be honest.