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Hague Apostille Convention
Hague Apostille Convention
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Introductory remarks
The Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents (The Hague, 5 October 1961, Dutch Treaty Series 1963, 28) (more commonly known as ‘the Hague Apostille Convention’) was drawn up by the Hague Conference on Private International Law during its ninth session in 1960.
The aim of the Convention is to abolish the often time-consuming and costly paperwork surrounding the legalisation of foreign public documents, and to replace it with a simple single procedure.
The Convention does not do away with legalisation; rather, it establishes certain formalities in international legal transactions, without the loss of legal certainty, by reducing the legalisation process to a single action: the application of an apostille (a kind of certificate). A document bearing an apostille does not require any further legalisation by the embassy or consulate of the country in which it is to be used.
The apostille
The apostille referred to in article 3 of the Convention is placed on the document itself or on what is known as the ‘allonge’ (annexed to the document for this purpose). It takes the form of a square whose sides are at least 9 cm long; the title (‘Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)’) is always given in French. The rest of the information may be in the official language of the issuing authority.
Specimen apostille:
APOSTILLE (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961) 1. Country: ……………………………………………………………………………. This public document 2. is signed by ……………………………………………………………… 3. acting in the capacity of ……………………………………………… 4. bears the stamp/seal of ……………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………….. Certified 5. at …………………………….. 6. on …………………………………………… 7. by ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………. 8. No. …………………………………………………………………………. 9. Stamp/seal ………………………….. .………………….10. Signature: …………………………. ……………………………………………………. |
If the Convention does apply to a document, it is important to check whether the apostille has been appended. If properly completed, the apostille confirms the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory has acted and, where necessary, the identity of the stamp or seal on the document.
What is a public document?
If a document is from a signatory state, the recipient authority must first determine if it is indeed a public document within the meaning of the Convention.
There is no general definition of this term in the Convention, but since the contracting States wished to facilitate the abolition of legalisation, the term must be given as broad an interpretation as possible. In view of this, all documents which are not private instruments are deemed to be public documents. The Convention specifies the following:
• documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a court registrar or a process server
Since the Convention refers to ‘the courts or tribunals of the State’, this must be taken to include all judicial decisions given in a contracting State, thus not only the judgments of the courts, but also those given by other, special tribunals and even ecclesiastical courts if they are acting as tribunals of the State.
• administrative documents
These include all documents issued by the administrative authorities in a contracting State. The explanatory memorandum of the Convention gives diplomas and degree certificates as examples. Certificates of birth/death/marriage and extracts from the population register also fall into this category.
• notarial acts
All instruments drawn up by a notary fall into this category.
• official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and authentications of signatures
The explanatory memorandum assumes that the legalisation of a private instrument by a notary is deemed to be an official certificate, so that the document in question is covered by the Convention and may have an apostille appended.
The Convention does not apply to:
• documents drawn up by consular and diplomatic agents.
For example, a declaration drawn up by the Japanese Embassy in The Hague to the effect that a person is unmarried does not require an apostille.
• administrative documents relating directly to commercial transactions or Customs formalities.
Which authority issues an apostille?
An apostille is issued by a designated central authority. In the Netherlands this is the registrar at the district court. In other countries it is often the Minister of Justice or of Foreign Affairs.
An overview of the designated authorities can be found on the website of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (www.hcch.net).
If there are doubts about a document’s origins, an interested party can contact the authority that issued the apostille.
Article 7 of the Convention obliges the competent authorities to keep a register or card index in which the apostilles issued are recorded. Such as system must specify:
• the number and date of the apostille;
• the name of the person signing the public document and the capacity in which he was acting;
• if the document is unsigned, the name of the authority which has affixed the seal or stamp.
Where does the Convention apply?
The Convention applies to the whole of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, i.e. to the Netherlands in Europe and to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. This does not mean, however, that documents originating from the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba which have to be produced in the Netherlands must have an apostille appended. There is no legalisation requirement in operation between the different parts of the Kingdom.
Signatory states
The Treaty Database contains a list of signatories, including the dates on which the Apostille Convention entered into force for each state.
Objections
If the Kingdom of the Netherlands has lodged an objection against a given state’s intention to join the Convention, the Convention will not apply between the Kingdom and that state
Other legalisation conventions
There are other conventions which completely abolish the legalisation requirement. If a document originates from a country that is a signatory to one of these conventions, the Dutch authorities may not insist on legalisation.
In some countries more than one convention is applicable, so that it is possible for certain documents from a particular country to be exempt from legalisation while others require an apostille.