To use a public document (such as court documents, official certificates, and identity documents) issued by one State in another State, a party would currently need to request a series of public officials to certify the authenticity of that document in a process known as legalisation. The Apostille Convention – formally known as the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents – replaces legalisation with a simplified one-step process.
In our previous Legal Update titled “Apostille Bill Passed in Parliament: Facilitating Cross-Border Use of Public Documents”, we covered the passing of the Apostille Bill in November 2020, which would give effect to Singapore’s future obligations under the Apostille Convention.
On 19 January 2021, the Ministry of Law (“MinLaw“) announced that Singapore had become a Contracting Party to the Apostille Convention, later adding that the Apostille Bill would come into effect on 16 September 2021.
In this Update, we briefly sketch out the new process for the authentication of documents under the Apostille Bill.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
