The Republic of Belarus and more than 70 states worldwide are the Signatories of the Convention abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents. This international legal arrangement was drawn up by the Hague Conference for Private International Law during its 9th session in 1960.
Under Article 2 of the Convention, the contracting States are required to exempt from legalization public documents which have to be produced in their territory. For the purposes of the Convention, legalization means only the formality by which diplomatic or consular agents certify the authenticity of the signature on the document. This limited definition of the term “legalization” has more far-reaching implications than one might think at first sight.
In most cases, only signatures known to the consulate will be legalized. In general terms, such signatures are those of competent officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin. It is usually necessary for a document to be legalized by a number of bodies, resulting in a series (either long or short) of signatures, so that the Consul can legalize a signature he is familiar with. With the abolition of legalization by the consular agent, the series of previous legalizations is no longer necessary either.
The simple formality which has replaced legalization is the addition of a certificate, or 'apostille'. Many local authorities believe that documents originating from countries which are signatories to the Convention do not require legalization. This is incorrect. Such documents need not undergo a lengthy legalization process but they must always have an apostille appended.

Consular fee for the legalization of the Embassy is 35 euros.

Apostille

The apostille referred to in Article 3 of the Convention is placed on the document itself or on what is known as the “allonge” (annexed to the document for this purpose). It is in form of a square paper, with its sides not shorter than 9 cm long, bearing its title in French (“Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 October 1961)”). The rest of the information may be in the official language of the issuing authority.
If the Convention applies to a document, it is important to check whether the apostille has been appended. If properly completed, the apostille confirms the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory has acted and, where necessary, the authenticity of the stamp or seal on the document. If there are doubts about the origin of a document, the interested party may contact the authority responsible for appending the apostille.

What is a public document?

What needs to beconsidered when accepting a document from a country which is a signatory to the Convention? The first element to verify is whether this document is indeed a public document within the meaning of the Convention. There is no general definition of this term in the Convention since the contracting States wished to keep a broad interpretation for it to facilitate the abolition of legalization. Hence, all documents which are not private instruments are deemed to be public documents. The Convention specifies the following:
 

• 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. Since the Convention refers to 'the courts or tribunals of the State', this must be taken to include all judicial decisions given in a contracting State, thus not only the judgments of the courts, but also those given by other, special tribunals and even ecclesiastical courts if they are acting as tribunals of the State.
• Administrative documents. These include all documents issued by the administrative authorities in a contracting State. The explanatory memorandum referring to the above gives diplomas and degree certificates as examples. Certificates of birth/death/marriage and extracts from the population register also fall into this category.
• Notarial acts. All instruments drawn up by a notary fall into this category.
• 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 authentications of signatures. The explanatory memorandum assumes that the legalization of a private instrument by a notary is deemed to be an official certificate, so that the document in question is covered by the Convention and may have an apostille appended.

The Convention does not apply to:

• Documents drawn up by consular and diplomatic agents. For example, a declaration drawn up by the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the effect that a person is unmarried does not require an apostille.
• Administrative documents relating directly to commercial transactions or Customs formalities. These documents are subject of consular legalization.

Which authority issues an apostille?

Apostille is issued by a designated central authority. In the Republic of Belarus apostille may be applied only to Belarusian official documents by:

• the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus — to documents issued by judicial authorities and courts;
• the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus-to documents issued by relevant educational authorities;
• the State Committee for Archives and Administration of the Republic of Belarus — to documents issued by relevant state archives;
• the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus — to all other documents.

If there are doubts about the origin of a document, the interested party may contact the authority responsible for appending the apostille. Article 7 of the Convention obliges the competent authorities to keep a register or card index of issued apostilles. Such a system must specify:
 

• the number and date of the apostille;
• the name of the person signing the public document and one's capacity;
• if the document is unsigned, the name of the authority which has affixed the seal or stamp.