Ministry Of Law And Human Rights Inaugurates Apostille Services Applicable In 121 Countries

PHOTO: DAFI-VOI

BADUNG - The Ministry of Law and Human Rights inaugurated the Apostille Certificate issuance service as proof of the legalization of 66 types of documents that are recognized and considered valid by authorities in 121 countries.

Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly said the service provides convenience for citizens who need document legalization for their activities abroad.

"The ease of one step in issuing Apostille Certificates which can be directly used in 121 countries party to the Apostille Convention, can support the traffic of public documents between countries to be faster and more efficient to answer the needs of the interconnected international community in the era of globalization," Yasonna said in his remarks quoted by Antara, Tuesday. , June 14.

Legalization prior to the issuance of the Apostille Certificate, he said, required time and had to go through complicated and lengthy bureaucratic procedures.

For example, in general, the legalization of Indonesian documents for purposes abroad must go through three main stages, namely ratification of documents by the Civil Directorate of the Directorate General of General Legal Administration (AHU) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, further ratification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ratification by the Embassy of the country concerned. aimed at.

The ratification becomes more complicated when it comes to legal documents, such as divorce certificates, power of attorney, or other letters related to civil cases.

However, the validation or legalization of the document can now become easier and faster after the issuance of the Apostille Certificate.

The Apostille certificate shows the validity of the origin of the document along with the signature of the official who certifies certain documents, including diplomas, birth certificates, divorce certificates, power of attorney, and death certificates.

The existence of the certificate, he continued, was a follow-up to the Apostille Convention which was agreed by countries at the meeting of The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on October 5, 1961.

Indonesia only officially joined the Apostille Convention on October 5, 2021 after Indonesian President Joko Widodo issued Indonesian Government Regulation Number 2 of 2021. This regulation makes Indonesia part of 121 countries that are subject to the Apostille Convention and recognizes the legalization of documents using Apostille Certificates.

Other countries that also recognize the Apostille Certificate include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

"Indonesia's success in accessing the Apostille Convention can be the first step in examining the benefits of other conventions under the auspices of HCCH as an international organization that becomes a melting pot (meeting, ed.) of different legal systems," said Yasonna.

During the same meeting, the Director General of AHU of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Cahyo R. Muzhar, stated that the service has been accessible to the public since June 4, 2022 for 66 types of documents issued by 12 institutions.

As of June 13, 2022, 2,918 applications for the issuance of Apostille Certificates have been received by the Directorate General of AHU of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"Most of the documents applied for are notary documents related to business activities, educational documents such as diplomas and transcripts, as well as population documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates," said Cahyo.

In the future, the Directorate General of AHU of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights plans to provide this service on a digital platform considering that currently the application and issuance of certificates is still manually by coming directly to the Office of the Directorate General of AHU of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"In the future, this manual Apostille service will be upgraded to an electronic Apostille service or e-Apostille," said Cahyo.