HEARD OF THE APOSTILLE? LET’S UNDERSTAND ITS USE.

In this age of ‘globalization’, the legal tool known as an Apostille is coming into vogue. Sounds like “Greek” to you?  Well, it is actually from Middle French from the word apostiller, which means to ‘add notes’, and before that from the Medieval Latin postilla, which means ‘note’, and probably from the words post illa (verba textus), which means ‘after those (words of the text)’.  So, we are adding a note, but, what exactly does that mean?  Well, the authors of the Hague Convention on the legalization of documents intended that it either confirm the authenticity of an official document or that it confirm that the person providing a notary certification is actually a licensed notary.  Still confused? Let’s see how this all came about.

The Legalization of Documents

Even in this ‘computerized’ world, and despite the desire to ‘go paperless’, we are a society of documents.  And, the more important the document, the more interest we have in proving its authenticity.  Proving authenticity, however, is not a simple task.  Official documents can look ‘official’ enough, but could you tell it from a forgery? And if a document is notarized, attesting, for example, that it is a true and correct copy, or an accurate translation, or that the persons signing the document in fact did so, can you be sure that the notary certification was provided by a ‘real’ notary?

In the days before the Hague Convention on the Legalization of Documents (and even today in respect of documents from or intended for non-signatory countries to the Convention), the way to prove the authenticity of a document or a notary certification was via the recipient country’s consulate or embassy.  The way you did it was to take the document to the embassy of the country to which the document was intended, and the staff would undertake to confirm the authenticity of the document through the means available to it in the host country.  This was, and remains, time consuming and expensive.

The Hague Convention on the Legalization of Documents effectively solved this problem when the countries that are signatories to the convention agreed to create a process of certifying the authenticity of a document or its notarization through an official governmental office that affixes to the document or the notary certification its ‘stamp of approval’ in the form of an Apostille. The Apostille is either pasted onto the back of the document or comes in the form of a rubber stamp containing the date and signature of the approving office. In Israel, the Apostille is provided by the Peace Court (in Hebrew Beit Mishpat Hashalom). In the case of a notary certification, for example, the Peace Court checks a list of notaries to ensure that the notary is licensed as such, and checks the notary’s signature card to ensure that the signature is the signature of the notary.

When is the Apostille Important to You?

In recent years, peoples of various countries of the world are discovering that ‘globalization’ has effectively reached their doorstep.  Nowadays, more and more people are travelling to other countries, not only as tourists, but to do business, study abroad, buy real estate, and various other reasons.  In many cases, they are required to present official documents or their translations from their original language to the language of the recipient country.  In each case, it is incumbent upon the person presenting the document to prove its accurate sometimes with a notary certification and in almost all cases an Apostille. 

While the most common purpose of the Apostille is to verify that a notary certification was in fact provided by a notary, a second function of Apostille is to verify the originality of official documents provided by public bodies in that country. This differs from the notary authorization that a copy of the original is in fact a true and accurate copy. This special Apostille is often used for marriage certificates or death certificates (not to be confused, they are not one in the same).

The Apostille Actually Made Life Easier

If the Apostille process sounds tedious and bureaucratic, you should know that the opposite is true. This document saves you endless bureaucracy, queues and tension.  For example, in Israel, without an Apostille a person seeking to verify the identity of the notary who signed his translated document would have to visit the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Ministry (to confirm that the notary was actually authorized in Israel), and then forward those credentials to the relevant consulate of the recipient country for verification of these verifications.  The Apostille saves this cumbersome bureaucratic process. However, the Apostille cannot be issued in every case, but only if the foreign state involved is also a signatory to the 1961 Hague Convention (the Apostille Convention).

This Convention, which was drafted to simplify the process of recognizing public documents among its signatory countries, was adopted by many countries around the world, including Israel, which even adopted regulations for the implementation of the 1977 Convention. Most of the countries that sign the treaty include most European countries, the US, as well as other countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania. On the other hand, in South America only some of the countries are signatories to the treaty, so as you are required to present a translated document in one of the Latin American countries, you may be forced to go through the old bureaucratic process.

Although the Apostille certification in Israel was once provided free of charge, nowadays there is a minor charge for rendering the Apostille, which can be paid in cash or by credit card.

Jeff Lahav is a lawyer and notary, who, among other things, handles out international transactions, and has extensive experience in dealing with authorities in Israel and abroad.  If you have any questions regarding the Apostille or need help obtaining the certification, please give Jeff Lahav a call at +972-(0)52-444-2343