Hague Apostille Convention

Overview

Generally, the main purpose of Hague Conventions is the unification of the rules of
private international law and the harmonization procedural rules of the signatory states.

With regard to the Apostille Convention, it deals specifically with the circulation of
public documents. The convention reduces the steps in the authentication process of a public
document executed in one state for it to be produced and presented for legal purposes in
another state. Consequently, it greatly reduces the time and cost of authenticating documents
making the whole process expedient and accessible.

In sum, the Convention provides a uniform process in authenticating a document in all

the contracting states.

The process

Without the Apostille convention, a legal document issued in one state must first go
through the process of authentication and legalization to be recognized in another state. Thus,
it must be authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs of the country where the
document is issued and it must be legalized by the Embassy or Consulate of the Country where
the document shall be used.

Pursuant to Sections 24 and 25 of Rule 132 of the rules of court, a foreign public
documents shall be admissible for any purpose only after authentication of the Philippine
consulate. Thus, If the document shall come from the Philippines, the certification by the
concerned government agency must first be acquired, or notarization by a notary public.
Second, certification by the Department of Foreign affairs shall be acquire before it could be
presented to the receiving state. Lastly, foreign embassy or consulate shall certify said the said
document.

But after the effectivity of the Apostille Convention in the Philippines, the only formality
that may be required in order to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity of the
person signing the document and the identity of the seal or stamp it bears is a mere attachment
of an “Apostille” issued by the competent authority of the State from which the document
emanates pursuant to Article 3 of the said convention. In a nutshell, it notarizes a notarization
giving the document legal effect in the receiving country.

The “Apostille”, pursuant to Article 4 and 5 of the convention, shall be a common

certificate to be used and issued by the respective designated authority of every contracting
state.

It should be noted however, that the Apostille Convention does not apply to documents
executed by diplomatic or consular agent, to administrative documents dealing directly with
commercial or customs operations and to private documents. The term “public document” shall
be determined by the law of the state where said document originates.

Although the “Apostille” authenticates the authenticity of the formalities, signature, and
capacity of the person signing, it does not authenticate the documents’ intrinsic contents.

In conclusion, the convention assures the circulation of public documents regardless of

its origin, provided that the originating and the receiving state is a signatory to the Convention.
Although already part of the law of the land by virtue of the incorporation clause of the 1987
Constitution, the Supreme Court may need to make certain amendments to the Rules of Court
regarding the use of foreign public documents to fully embrace the provisions of the
Convention.
CHART CHART.