Can a lawyer be found guilty of professional misconduct by signing the jurat of an affidavit as having been sworn before her as a commissioner for taking affidavits?

In Law Society of BC v. Walters, 2005 LSBC 39, the respondent admitted that she committed professional misconduct by signing the jurat of an affidavit as having been sworn before her as a commissioner for taking affidavits while leaving the jurat undated. The hearing panel accepted her admission and confirmed a finding of professional misconduct. It noted that the respondent’s difficult personal circumstances could not justify her actions. It emphasized the importance of lawyers strictly and scrupulously adhering to the formalities of commissioning of affidavits and adopted the following language of the Law Society hearing panel decision in Re: Lawyer 3, 2004 LSBC 27, at paragraph 28: Allowing this conduct to go uncensured would harm the standing of the legal profession. Documentary evidence sworn before lawyers would lose its value if the public and the courts became aware that scrupulous adherence to the rules of swearing such documents was not being practised.