DUSHANBE, September 26, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is completing the process of joining the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Mr. Christophe Bernasconi, told journalists in Dushanbe on September 25.
Mr. Bernasconi expressed confidence that Tajikistan is already ready to join the Convention, and most likely, it will happen before the end of this year.
The Government of Tajikistan has shown high adherence to joining the Apostille Convention,” said the HCCH secretary-general.
The interagency Working Group on joining the Convention that has been set up under technical support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has reportedly completed legal analysis of the documents and Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Mahjlisi Namoyandagon) has drafted a resolution on ratification of an agreement on joining the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents.
Mr. Bernasconi noted that every year thousands of Tajik nationals travel abroad seeking higher education, better employment opportunities or medical aid. He stressed that conditions for foreign citizens for doing business in Tajikistan and for Tajik citizens for doing business in other countries have been extended.
“In this connection, the issue of processing documents has become quite topical and accession to the Apostille Convention will make the process of legalization of documents easier,” the HCCH secretary-general noted.
He further added that two competent bodies dealing with issuing Apostilles would be set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice in Tajikistan in the near future.
Mr. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), was in Tajikistan on an official visit on September 24-25. The purpose of the visit was for him to hold talks with relevant Tajik state officials to discuss issues related to benefits of the Apostille Convention for citizens of Tajikistan and the country’s private sector.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is the preeminent organization in the area of private international law. The HCCH was formed in 1893 to “work for the progressive unification of the rules of private international law.” It has pursued this goal by creating and assisting in the implementation of multilateral conventions promoting the harmonization of conflict of laws principles in diverse subject matters within private international law. The Conference has developed thirty-eight international conventions since its Statute was completed in 1951.
The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. Such a certification is called an apostille (French: certification). It is an international certification comparable to a notarization in domestic law, and normally supplements a local notarization of the document.
