(a) in the State Party that made the declaration; (b) in other Contracting States, where an exclusive agreement conferring jurisdiction determines the courts or one or more specific courts of the State which made the declaration. (1) This Convention does not apply to agreements on the exclusive election of court – The apostille certificate is the result of a Hague Convention repealing the legalization requirement. The Hague Conventions are established by mutual agreement between the members of the Hague Conference on Private and International Law. What is the Hague Conference on Private and International Law? The Hague Conference is a global organization created to bring together the different legal systems of each Member State in order to simplify legal activities affecting the jurisdiction of two or more countries. The Conference held its first meeting in 1893 and became a permanent intergovernmental organization in 1955 after the entry into force of its Statute. Legal activities can be of a personal and family or commercial nature. Member States shall adopt specific provisions known as `private international law`. The Hague Conference is often mentioned in its French translation, which is “The Hague Conference on Private International Law” or abbreviated “The Hague Conference” or “HCCH”. What are the Hague Conventions? When the members of the Hague Conference meet, they meet to negotiate and agree on rules that ensure that all Members act in a certain way when dealing with a particular issue. This Agreement is referred to as the Convention and all Members that accept a Convention undertake to comply with the rules and requirements of that specific Convention. In this way, legal activities in this particular area will become more uniform from one Member State to another.
Not all members of the Hague Conference automatically adopt all conventions, and conventions are regularly revised to ensure that they always achieve what was intended. Who are the members of the Hague Conference? As of October 2014, there were 77 members of the Hague Conference, most of whom are listed on the next page – Countries that recognize an apostille certificate – The countries listed on this page are only those that have explicitly adopted the Convention on the Legalization of Documents by Apostille, so some member countries are missing. Which convention created a need for apostille certificates? Convention No. 12 entered into force in January 1965, the full title of the Convention is – Convention for the Abolition of the Obligation to Legalize Foreign Public Documents. The purpose of this Convention is to eliminate the need for diplomatic or consular legalization of foreign public documents. Instead of the then complex and lengthy legalization process, a simple certificate should be issued in a certain format. This certificate is the apostille certificate that was attached to a document once, no further certification or legalisation of the document would be required if it is presented in another Member State. How does this affect the legalisation of documents for third countries? The apostille procedure has improved the legalization of documents for many third countries, as they often accept a foreign document once it has been issued with an apostille certificate and then legalized in the consular section of their own embassy in the country of origin of the foreign document. This is not always the case, please contact us for a consultation. How do I get an apostille certificate for my documents? 1. The declarations referred to in Articles 19, 20, 21, 22 and 26 may be made at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession or at any time thereafter and may be amended or withdrawn at any time.
2. Declarations, amendments and withdrawals shall be notified to the depositary. 3. A declaration made at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall take effect for the State concerned at the same time as the entry into force of this Convention. 4. The notification made at a later date and any amendment or withdrawal of a declaration shall take effect on the first day of the month following the expiry of a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notification by the depositary. 5. A declaration under Articles 19, 20, 21 and 26 shall not apply to exclusive agreements conferring jurisdiction concluded before it takes effect. (a) the court of origin has been determined by a non-exclusive agreement conferring jurisdiction; (b) there is no judgment of another court before which proceedings could be brought under the agreement on non-exclusive jurisdiction, nor is there any proceedings pending between the same parties before another court for the same plea; and (c) the court of origin was the first court seised. A State may declare that its courts may refuse to rule on disputes governed by an agreement conferring exclusive jurisdiction if there is no connection between that State and the parties or a dispute other than the place of the chosen court. 1. This Convention shall be interpreted, to the extent possible, as being compatible with other treaties applicable to States Parties, whether concluded before or after this Convention.
2. Nothing in this Convention shall affect the application by a Contracting State of a treaty concluded before or under this Convention in cases where neither party resides in a Contracting State which is not a party to the Treaty. 3. This Convention is without prejudice to the application by a Contracting State of a treaty concluded for that Contracting State before the entry into force of this Convention where the application of this Convention would be incompatible with the obligations of that Contracting State towards a non-Contracting State. This paragraph shall also apply to treaties which revise or replace a treaty concluded for that State Party before the entry into force of this Convention, unless the revision or replacement would give rise to new contradictions with this Convention. 4. This Convention is without prejudice to the application by a Contracting State of a treaty concluded before or under this Convention for the purpose of obtaining recognition or enforcement of a judgment given by a court of a Contracting State which is also a Party to this Treaty. .
