Legalization of foreign public documents
1. RATIFICATION ON CONVENTION ABOLISHING THE REQUIREMENT OF LEGALISATION FOR FOREIGN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
Recently, by President Regulation No. 2 Year 2021, Indonesia has ratified the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents which was adopted in the Hague Conference on Private International Law on 5 October 1961 (the “Convention”). This ratification has been made in relation to the improvement of public services and the convenience of doing business in Indonesia particularly in this case is to simplify the legalization process of public documents in line with the Convention.
2. LEGALISATION
Pursuant to Article 2 of the Convention, each Contracting State shall exempt legalization of documents to which the Convention applies and which have to be produced in its territory. For the purposes of the Convention, legalization means only the formality by which the diplomatic or consular agents of the country in which the documents 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.
3. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
Article 1 of the Convention stipulates that Convention applies 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 Contacting State and that, the following are deemed to be public documents mentioned above:
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 appended to 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 Convention shall not apply:
i. To documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
ii. To administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.
4. DECLARATION ON THE RATIFICATION
The ratification by Indonesia has been made with a declaration on Article 1 regarding the scope of public documents in the Convention. Where by this declaration, Indonesia is bound by the provision of Article 1 on the scope of public documents in the Convention and provided that the documents issued by prosecutor office as the prosecuting body in the Republic of Indonesia are not included in public documents whose requirements of legalization have been abolished as set forth in the Convention.
5. BASED ON THE ABOVE:
The use/produced in Indonesia of foreign public documents listed in Article 1 of the Convention needs not to be legalized by Indonesia’s diplomatic or consular agents in the Contracting State in which such public document is executed which means no certification needs to be made by Indonesia’s diplomatic or consular agents of the authenticity of the signature, and the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted in the Contracting State. The above however, is not applicable to the documents issued by prosecutor office as the prosecuting body in the Republic of Indonesia thus, the legalization of this kind of documents is still required.
Disclaimer: This article is intended as general information only and it does not constitute a legal advice. We accept no responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance on this information. Please contact us if you need full legal advice.
Recently, by President Regulation No. 2 Year 2021, Indonesia has ratified the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents which was adopted in the Hague Conference on Private International Law on 5 October 1961 (the “Convention”). This ratification has been made in relation to the improvement of public services and the convenience of doing business in Indonesia particularly in this case is to simplify the legalization process of public documents in line with the Convention.
2. LEGALISATION
Pursuant to Article 2 of the Convention, each Contracting State shall exempt legalization of documents to which the Convention applies and which have to be produced in its territory. For the purposes of the Convention, legalization means only the formality by which the diplomatic or consular agents of the country in which the documents 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.
3. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
Article 1 of the Convention stipulates that Convention applies 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 Contacting State and that, the following are deemed to be public documents mentioned above:
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 appended to 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 Convention shall not apply:
i. To documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
ii. To administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.
4. DECLARATION ON THE RATIFICATION
The ratification by Indonesia has been made with a declaration on Article 1 regarding the scope of public documents in the Convention. Where by this declaration, Indonesia is bound by the provision of Article 1 on the scope of public documents in the Convention and provided that the documents issued by prosecutor office as the prosecuting body in the Republic of Indonesia are not included in public documents whose requirements of legalization have been abolished as set forth in the Convention.
5. BASED ON THE ABOVE:
The use/produced in Indonesia of foreign public documents listed in Article 1 of the Convention needs not to be legalized by Indonesia’s diplomatic or consular agents in the Contracting State in which such public document is executed which means no certification needs to be made by Indonesia’s diplomatic or consular agents of the authenticity of the signature, and the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted in the Contracting State. The above however, is not applicable to the documents issued by prosecutor office as the prosecuting body in the Republic of Indonesia thus, the legalization of this kind of documents is still required.
Disclaimer: This article is intended as general information only and it does not constitute a legal advice. We accept no responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance on this information. Please contact us if you need full legal advice.