At the end of September 2021, the French Government published Decree No. 2021-1205, which clarifies some of the provisions of the reform of the procedures for affixing the Apostille stamp and consular legalization of documents.
By the meaning of The Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, apostille is an international standardized form for filling out information on the legality of a document for presentation on the territory of countries that recognize this form of legalization. The Apostille stamp is placed on originals and copies of documents.
In addition, the Decree gives notaries the authority to issue legalization and apostille, with exceptions provided, on the one hand, in the context of requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, and on the other, for certain overseas territories. Previously, only regional courts of appeal had the authority to affix an apostille in France.
The reform assumes that legalization and apostille will mainly be issued in electronic form. For this, the French Ministry of Justice will introduce an electronic register of legalizations and affixed apostilles, since it is this body that is responsible for creating a database of "public signatures".
The new regulations are expected to enter into force on September 1, 2023, with the exception of the “public signatures” database provisions, which will enter into force on January 1, 2023.
Note: Apostille can be drawn up both in one of the official languages of the Convention (French or English), and in the national language of the country that affixed the apostille. In practice, the notes on the apostille are often duplicated in two languages (one of the languages of the Convention and the national one).
The title "Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 Octobre 1961)" must be in French.
Decree No. 1205 states that "the following documents are public":
- acts emanating from administrative or judicial authorities, their registers;
- acts of bailiffs;
- documents of civil status drawn up by employees of the civil status service;
- acts drawn up by administrative bodies;
- notarial acts;
- official documents subject to registration with government agencies.
