Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 45 / 1999 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the access of the Czech Republic to the Convention on the abolition of the requirement of verification of foreign public documents
Valid
International Treaty
Effective from 16.03.1999
Text versions:
05.03.1999
45
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that on 5 October 1961 the Convention on the abolition of the requirement for the verification of foreign public documents was adopted in The Hague.
The Parliament of the Czech Republic has given its assent to the Convention.
The Charter on the access of the Czech Republic to the Convention on the abolition of the requirement to certify foreign authentic acts of 5 October 1961 was deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, depositary of the Convention, on 23 June 1998.
At the same time as the deposit of the instrument of access, the depositary was notified by reference to the provisions of Article 6 of the Convention that the authority responsible for issuing certificates (Apostille), issued by judicial authorities, including documents issued or validated by notaries, is the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, the international department. In other cases of documents, issued by authorities of state administration or other bodies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the consular department, is the authority responsible for the certification (Apostille).
The Convention entered into force on 24 January 1965 pursuant to Article 11 thereof. For the Czech Republic, the Convention enters into force in accordance with the text of Article 12 thereof on 16 March 1999.
The Czech translation of the Convention is being announced simultaneously.
CONVENTION
repealing the requirement for the verification of foreign authentic instruments
Contracting States to this Convention,
intends to withdraw the requirement of diplomatic or consular verification of foreign authentic instruments,
decide to conclude the Convention to that end and agree on the following provisions:
The Convention shall apply to authentic instruments issued in the territory of one of the Contracting States and which must be submitted in the territory of another Contracting State.
For the purposes of the Convention:
(a) documents issued by a judicial authority of a State, including documents issued by a prosecutor, a senior judicial officer or a judicial executor;
(b) documents issued by administrative authorities;
(c) notaries;
(d) an official certificate bearing documents signed by a private person, such as an official certificate of registration of the instrument or an attestation that a specific date has been issued and an official and notarial certificate of authenticity of the signature.
The Convention shall not apply to:
(a) documents issued by diplomatic or consular representatives;
(b) administrative documents relating directly to trade or customs transactions.
Each Contracting State shall exempt from the legalisation of the instruments to which the Convention applies and which are to be submitted in its territory. For the purposes of this Convention, verification shall mean only a formal act whereby diplomatic or consular representatives of the country in which the instrument is to be presented confirm the authenticity of the signature, the right of the person to sign the document and, if necessary, the authenticity of the seal or stamp by which it is to be affixed.
The only formal act which may be required to confirm the authenticity of the signature, the right of the person to sign the document and, where necessary, the authenticity of the seal or stamp to which it is affixed, shall be the attachment of the clause referred to in Article 4 of the Convention, to be issued by the competent authority of the State of issue.
However, the formal act referred to in the preceding paragraph may not be required where either the laws, regulations or practice in force in the State where the instrument is submitted or the agreement between two or more Contracting States has repealed or simplified or exempted that act from the obligation of verification.
The document referred to in the first paragraph of Article 3 shall bear the instrument itself or be listed in the Annex; it shall conform to the model annexed to the Convention.
However, the document may be drawn up in the official language of the Office issuing it. The standard terms contained therein may also be in another language. The name "Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961) 'shall be in French.
The endorsement shall be issued at the request of the signatory or any holder of the instrument.
The duly completed clause verifies the authenticity of the signature, the right of the person to sign the document and, if necessary, the authenticity of the seal or stamp on the instrument by which it is affixed.
The signature, seal and stamp on the endorsement shall be exempt from further verification.
Each Contracting State shall designate the competent authorities authorised to issue the clauses referred to in the first paragraph of Article 3.
The Contracting State is obliged to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this The Netherlands at the time of deposit of the instruments of ratification or accession or declaration of extension. It will also inform of any change concerning this office.
Each office designated in accordance with Article 6 shall keep a register or file containing the following particulars of the endorsements issued:
1. the number and date of the endorsement,
2. the name of the person who signed the authentic instrument, its function or, in the case of the unsigned documents, the name of the office which provided the instrument of seal or stamp.
At the request of any interested party, the Office which issued the clause shall verify that the particulars on the clause correspond to those in the register or the file.
Where an agreement, convention or contract between two or more Contracting States contains provisions on the formalities for verifying the signature, seal or stamp, the Convention shall apply only if those formalities are more stringent than those laid down in Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention.
Each State shall take the necessary steps to prevent the verification of documents by its diplomatic and consular representatives where the Convention provides for an exemption from the obligation to verify.
This Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the 9th session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and for Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein and Turkey.
The Convention will be ratified and the instruments of ratification deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
This Convention shall enter into force on the 60th day following the deposit of the third instrument of ratification referred to in the second paragraph of Article 10.
The Convention shall enter into force on the 60th day following the deposit of its instrument of ratification for each State which signed and ratified the Convention.
Any State not referred to in Article 10 may accede to this Convention after its entry into force, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 11. The Act of Access will be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
The accession shall be effective only for the relationship between the acceding State and those Contracting States which do not object to accession within 6 months of receiving the notification referred to in point (d) of Article 15. Each objection will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
The Convention shall enter into force between the acceding State and the non-objecting States on the 60th day following the expiry of the six-month period referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Any State may declare at the time of signature, ratification or accession that it extends the territorial validity of this Convention to all territories or one or more of them for whose international relations it is responsible. This Declaration shall take effect as soon as the Convention enters into force for the State concerned.
Any time thereafter the extension of the territorial validity of this Convention will be notified by the relevant State to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
Where a declaration of extension is made by a State which has signed and ratified the Convention, the Convention shall enter into force for the respective territories in accordance with Article 11. Where a declaration of extension is made by the State which acceded to the Convention, the Convention shall enter into force for the respective territories in accordance with Article 12.
This Convention shall remain in force for 5 years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 11, as well as for States which have ratified or acceded to the Convention subsequently.
If the Convention is not terminated, it shall be tacitly renewed every 5 years.
Each statement shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at least 6 months before the end of the five-year period.
The denunciation may be limited to certain territories to which the Convention applies. The denunciation will only be effective for the State which notified it. The Convention shall remain in force for all other Contracting States.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Netherlands shall inform the States referred to in Article 10 and the States which acceded to the Convention pursuant to Article 12 of:
(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 this Convention enters into force pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 11;
(d) the approaches and objections referred to in Article 12 and the date on which the approaches entered into force;
(e) the extensions referred to in Article 13 and the date on which they took effect;
(f) the statements referred to in the third paragraph of Article 14.
In order to prove the signature below, duly authorised, they signed this Convention.
In the Hague on 5 October 1961, in French and English, the French text is decisive in the event of differences between the two texts, in one copy, which will be deposited in the archives of the Dutch Government and whose certified copy will be sent by diplomatic channels to any State represented at the 9th session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as Iceland, Iraq, Liechtenstein and Turkey.
Annex
Model of the Apostille Verification Clause
The verification shall be of a square dimension with sides of at least 9 cm long
Sign in for notes, favorites and notifications
Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 45 / 1999 Coll., on the access of the Czech Republic to the Convention on the abolition of the requirement to verify foreign public documents |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | International Treaty |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 05.03.1999 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 16.03.1999 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
Comments 0