The UIHJ Attended the Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Apostille Convention

The UIHJ and regularly follows with great interest the work of the Hague Conference on Private International Law on the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (the Apostille convention). During four days, the UIHJ attended the work of this special committee of the Hague Conference.

The Apostille is a method that allows an authentic document issued in a state to be recognized and used in another state, without any need for a complicated and expensive recognition procedure. The convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents, the "Apostille Convention", is the work of The Hague Conference on Private International Law. Since 2006, The Hague Conference, author of the Apostille Convention, initiated a large movement to help the Apostille enter the digital age. The e-APP (for e-Apostille Pilot Program) Project is to coordinate the actions of states to develop and harmonize an electronic Apostille. The Apostille Convention is the most widely used Hague Convention. With many millions of Apostilles issued and accepted annually, the Apostille Convention is the most widely used Hague Convention.

The purpose of the special commission was to measure the practical application of the Convention to the 104 countries that apply it. 75 countries and major international organizations and institutions, including the European Union, the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries (ANZCN), the European Patent Office (EPO), the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO-INTERPOL), the International Commission on Civil Status, the United Kingdom and Ireland Notarial Forum (UKINF), and the World Bank were present for this meeting of an exceptional international scale. The UIHJ was represented by its President, Leo Netten, and its First Secretary, Mathieu Chardon.

The special commission was opened by Paul Vlas, president of Netherlands Standing Government Committee on Private International Law. Fernando Marani (Argentina) was then elected as Chairman of the Special Commission. Hans van Loon, Secretary General of the Hague Conference wished everyone welcome. He said that his organization is available to parties who wish to join the Convention. The Secretary-General indicated that the objectives of the Special Commission were to assess the implementation of the conclusions and recommendations adopted at the 2009 Special Commission, endorse the draft Manual on the Convention Apostille and clarify the scope of application of the Convention.

Christophe Bernasconi, Deputy Secretary General of the Hague Conference, intervened on numerous occasions to provide insights into different aspects of the Apostille Convention.
During the three days that followed, various topics were addressed and discussed: the manual of the Convention, the application of the Convention, the competent authorities and access to Apostille services, the issuing of Apostilles, the registering of Apostilles, the acceptance and rejection of Apostilles in State of destination, or the Electronic Apostille Program (e-APP).

During the discussions, an observer of the World Bank considered that the Apostille Convention “facilitates foreign business start-up, thereby establishing a regulatory environment more conducive to foreign direct investment”.

Amidst the conclusions that were adopted at the term of the Special Commission, is the recognition of the value of the e-APP as “a tool to further enhance the secure and effective operation of the Apostille Convention. It appears that its use is expanding”.

In this regard, the 8th International Forum on the e-APP is scheduled for 2013 in Montevideo (Uruguay). Finally, the Special Commission did endorse the Handbook on the Practical Operation of the Apostille Convention and invited the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference to finalise the text, taking into account the issues addressed during the meeting.