The Directorate General for Legal Administration of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice held a forum dedicated to international legal cooperation. This was reported by the official information sources of the ministry.
Apostille in Indonesia
The Hague Convention, which abolishes the requirement for legalization of foreign public documents (Apostille Convention of 1961), came into force in Indonesia on June 4, 2022. Every Indonesian citizen with an individual identification number now has the opportunity to submit an application for document authentication via Apostille through a dedicated application.
By becoming a signatory to the Convention, Indonesia will now follow the positive global trend of simplifying the legalization process.
— commented on this event Andy Rahmianto, Director General of the Protocol and Consular Affairs Department of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The authority empowered to authenticate documents with an Apostille in Indonesia is the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Within it, the Directorate General for Legal Administration (Direktorat Jenderal Administrasi Hukum Umum) is directly responsible for this matter, currently headed by Dr. Widodo.
Upon ratification of the Convention, the Indonesian authorities made a reservation that the Apostille procedure would not apply to documents of the Prosecutor's Office. Representatives from France, the Netherlands, and Germany objected to this reservation, noting that it limits the scope of the Apostille Convention. However, the authorities of these countries emphasized that the reservation does not prevent the Convention from entering into force.
Representatives of Indonesia's political leadership have repeatedly stated that the decision to join the Apostille Convention was made in line with advanced global trends and with the aim of simplifying business operations in the country.
Today, Indonesia is one of the key promoters of the Apostille concept worldwide. By organizing meetings with leaders of foreign states that have not yet joined the 1961 Convention, Indonesian authorities actively encourage them to also implement the Apostille system. In particular, such negotiations took place with the leadership of Malaysia and Egypt.
At the same time, official Jakarta does not intend to stop at the current achievements and plans to introduce new advanced practices in the field of Apostille services.
How Indonesia plans to reform apostille services
The Directorate General for Legal Administration of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights held a forum dedicated to international legal issues and cooperation among central authorities in this field. In addition to staff from various divisions of the Ministry of Justice, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Corruption Eradication Commission participated in the event.
During the discussions, the focus was on the development of Apostille services, the effectiveness of cooperation in mutual legal assistance and extradition. According to the Ministry of Justice, this agenda aims to ensure "improved efficiency, transparency, and alignment of cross-border legal services with the needs of society."
In his opening remarks, the head of the Directorate General for Legal Administration, Dr. Widodo, emphasized that digital transformation is key to providing modern public services that meet international standards.
He also spoke about the creation of the "Central Authorities Management System" — a digital platform designed to simplify the management of international cooperation requests, which will be used from 2026 by officials from various ministries and law enforcement agencies in Indonesia.
Other forum participants supported the central government's course toward digitalization of the international legal sector.
By accelerating the digitalization of services such as Apostille and international cooperation management systems, we hope that legal services will become more accessible, transparent, and directly beneficial to society.
— stated Madju Amintas Siburian, head of the regional office of the Ministry of Justice of South Sumatra.
Forum participants also reported that Indonesia is intensifying international legal cooperation with other countries. The number of incoming requests for mutual legal assistance increased by 21.6%, and outgoing requests by 113%. In addition, 215,804 applications for document Apostille were submitted, 99% of which were approved by Indonesian authorities.
The leadership of the Directorate General for Legal Administration announced a reform of the document legalization sector in Indonesia. Plans include the introduction of the electronic Apostille (e-Apostille), an expedited document legalization procedure, as well as a special "flexible" seal for document authentication.
Cross-border and inter-agency cooperation is a fundamental principle for ensuring legal certainty and the effective application of international law... We will make maximum use of digital systems, accelerate the processing of service requests, and provide technical support to stakeholders to ensure greater adaptability and accessibility of cross-border services for the population.
— emphasized Johnny Pesta Simamora, head of the regional office of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of West Kalimantan, in his speech.
What is an apostille?
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