| The Hague Convention |
|
CONVENTION ABOLISHING THE REQUIREMENT OF
LEGALISATION (Concluded October 5, 1961)
Memberstates: (status: January 10th, 2006) Albania;
Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, China,
China-Hong
Kong SAR, China-Macau SAR, Colombia,
Cook Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominica,
Ecuador, El
Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras,
Hungary, Iceland,
India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Samoa,
San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Slovakia,
Slovenia, South
Africa, Spain, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine,
United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela
The States signatory to the present Convention, Desiring to abolish the requirement of
diplomatic or consular legalisation for foreign public documents, Have resolved to conclude a Convention to this
effect and have agreed upon the following provisions: Article 1 The present Convention shall apply to public
documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and
which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State. For the purposes of the present Convention, the
following are deemed to be public documents: a) 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 clerk of a court or a
process-server ("huissier de justice"); b) administrative documents; c) notarial acts; d) 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 official and notarial authentications
of signatures. However, the present Convention shall not apply: a) to documents executed by
diplomatic or consular agents; b) to administrative documents
dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. Article 2 Each Contracting State shall exempt from
legalisation documents to which the present Convention applies and which have to
be produced in its territory. For the purposes of the present Convention,
legalisation means only the formality by which the diplomatic or consular agents
of the country in which the document has to be produced certify the authenticity
of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has
acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which it bears. Article 3 The only formality that may be required in order
to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person
signing the document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal
or stamp which it bears, is the addition of the certificate described in Article
4, issued by the competent authority of the State from which the document
emanates. However, the formality mentioned in the
preceding paragraph cannot be required when either the laws, regulations, or
practice in force in the State where the document is produced or an agreement
between two or more Contracting States have abolished or simplified it, or
exempt the document itself from legalisation. Article 4 The certificate referred to in the first
paragraph of Article 3 shall be placed on the document itself or on an
"allonge", it shall be in the form of the model annexed to the present
Convention. It may, however, be drawn up in the official
language of the authority which issues it. The standard terms appearing therein
may be in a second language also. The title "Apostille (Convention de La
Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" shall be in the French language. Article 5 The certificate shall be issued at the request
of the person who has signed the document or of any bearer. When properly filled in, it will certify the
authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the
document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp
which the document bears. The signature, seal and stamp on the certificate
are exempt from all certification. Article 6 Each Contracting State shall designate by
reference to their official function, the authorities who are competent to issue
the certificate referred to in the first paragraph of Article 3. It shall give notice of such designation to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at the time it deposits its
instrument of ratification or of accession or its declaration of extension. It
shall also give notice of any change in the designated authorities. Article 7 Each of the authorities designated in accordance
with Article 6 shall keep a register or card index in which it shall record the
certificates issued, specifying: a) the number and date of the
certificate, b) the name of the person signing the
public document and the capacity in which he has acted, or in the case of
unsigned documents, the name of the authority which has affixed the seal or
stamp. At the request of any interested person, the
authority which has issued the certificate shall verify whether the particulars
in the certificate correspond with those in the register or card index. Article 8 When a treaty, convention or agreement
between two or more Contracting States contains provisions which subject the
certification of a signature, seal or stamp to certain formalities, the present
Convention will only override such provisions if those formalities are more
rigorous than the formality referred to in Articles 3 and 4. Article 9 Each Contracting State shall take the necessary
steps to prevent the performance of legalisations by its diplomatic or consular
agents in cases where the present Convention provides for exemption. Article 10 The present Convention shall be open for
signature by the States represented at the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference
on Private International Law and Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein and Turkey. It shall be ratified, and the instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands. Article 11 The present Convention shall enter into force on
the sixtieth day after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification
referred to in the second paragraph of Article 10. The Convention shall enter into force for each
signatory State which ratifies subsequently on the sixtieth day after the
deposit of its instrument of ratification. Article 12 Any State not referred to in Article 10 may
accede to the present Convention after it has entered into force in accordance
with the first paragraph of Article 11. The instrument of accession shall be
deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Such accession shall have effect only as regards
the relations between the acceding State and those Contracting States which have
not raised an objection to its accession in the six months after the receipt of
the notification referred to in sub-paragraph d) of Article 15. Any such objection shall be notified to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The Convention shall enter into force as between
the acceding State and the States which have raised no objection to its
accession on the sixtieth day after the expiry of the period of six months
mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Article 13 Any State may, at the time of signature,
ratification or accession, declare that the present Convention shall extend to
all the territories for the international relations of which it is responsible,
or to one or more of them. Such a declaration shall take effect on the date of
entry into force of the Convention for the State concerned. At any time thereafter, such extensions shall be
notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. When the declaration of extension is made by a
State which has signed and ratified, the Convention shall enter into force for
the territories concerned in accordance with Article 11. When the declaration of
extension is made by a State which has acceded, the Convention shall enter into
force for the territories concerned in accordance with Article 12. Article 14 The present Convention shall remain in force for
five years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with the first
paragraph of Article 11, even for States which have ratified it or acceded to it
subsequently. If there has been no denunciation, the
Convention shall be renewed tacitly every five years. Any denunciation shall be notified to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at least six months before the
end of the five year period. It may be limited to certain of the territories
to which the Convention applies. The denunciation will only have effect as
regards the State which has notified it. The Convention shall remain in force
for the other Contracting States. Article 15 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands shall give notice to the States referred to in Article 10, and to
the States which have acceded in accordance with Article 12, of the following: a) the notifications referred to in
the second paragraph of Article 6; b) the signatures and ratifications
referred to in Article 10; c) the date on which the present
Convention enters into force in accordance with the first paragraph of Article
11; d) the accessions and objections
referred to in Article 12 and the date on which such accessions take effect; e) the
extensions referred to in Article 13 and the date on which they take effect; f) the
denunciations referred to in the third paragraph of Article 14. In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly
authorised thereto, have signed the present Convention. Done at The Hague the 5th October 1961, in French and in English, the French text prevailing in case of divergence between the two texts, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands, and of which a certified copy shall be sent, through the diplomatic channel, to each of the States represented at the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and also to Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein and Turkey. |