Certified translations are translations that are officially recognized for legal or official purposes. A certified translation is performed by a professional translator who guarantees the accuracy and completeness of the translated document. The translator typically provides a signed statement, known as a certification, affirming that the translation is a true and accurate representation of the original document.
On March 19, 2025, the agreement on legal assistance between Russia and Estonia officially ceased to be in effect. One of the key legal consequences of this event is the requirement to apostille documents for mutual recognition. The publication "Northern Coast" writes about the change in the legal situation.
On the British Virgin Islands, the office of the Deputy Governor has become the central authority authorized to apostille documents. This is reported by the portal of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
French municipalities have appointed special representatives who will interact with the High Council of Notaries regarding apostille matters. This is reported by MAIRE INFO.
The discussion on the implementation of public beneficial ownership registries for companies in the UK overseas territories continues in the UK Parliament. This is reported by MercoPress.
The authorities of Sevastopol plan to collect all notarial documents issued before the events of 2014 in a single archive. This was reported by the media outlet Forpost. It is believed that this experience could be useful for all "new regions."
Electronic signatures for document exchange between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will receive unified verification. This is reported by 'Vedomosti'..
The State Chancellery of the canton of Zurich has published current clarifications on the procedure for the legalization of documents for their use abroad on its official portal.
In Belarus, the system of advance electronic registration for the apostille of educational documents has been in operation since March 3, 2025. However, the public has already raised questions about it.
The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) has published a report on the activities of the organization in 2024. The report places significant emphasis on the development of document legalization through apostille.
The Philippines aims to launch a business beneficiaries registry in 2025 to avoid being placed again on the 'gray list' of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). This was reported by BusinessWorld.
The U.S. state of Iowa has transitioned to a new "unified" document legalization form for use abroad starting in 2025. This was announced by the official website of the state's Secretary of State.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has explained how to certify documents with an apostille while abroad. The official comment from the department was published by the 'Judicial and Legal Newspaper.
Members of the British Parliament have urged the government to apply pressure on the authorities of the British Virgin Islands to ensure the transparency of the beneficial ownership of companies. This is reported by The Guardian.
The authorities of the state of Wisconsin (USA) have announced the introduction of a "universal" apostille certificate. An official notice was released on February 5, 2025, by the office of the state secretary, Sarah Godlewski.
The Ministry of International Relations (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) of the Dominican Republic announced a temporary suspension of apostille and document legalization services, according to the local publication Listin Diario.
The authority to certify documents with an apostille will be transferred from the courts of appeal to the notary chambers from January 1, 2025. This was reported by La Gazette Du Midi, citing the head of the Toulouse Notary Chamber, Hubert Letignier.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry held a ceremony to mark the Islamic Republic's accession to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention), Radio Pakistan reported.
The Irish government has drafted legislation that will replace the current Limited Liability Partnership Act 1907 and the Registration of Business Names Act 1963 when it comes into force. It will expand the registrar's powers and introduce additional reporting and disclosure requirements, Irish Legal News reports.
The authorities of the People's Republic of Bangladesh officially deposited their instruments of accession to the Convention of 5 October 1961 for the Abolition of the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, with the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on July 29, 2024. The official website of the Hague Conference reports this.
The Ecuadorian authorities have announced that they are starting to carry out apostille and consular legalization procedures for documents digitally. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic is handling this issue. The department has distributed the corresponding statement in the media.
Three-quarters of national jurisdictions surveyed by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) are partially or completely non-compliant with anti-money laundering guidelines for regulating virtual assets. This is stated in the Group's report.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is creating a special department to combat money laundering. The corresponding decision was made by the country's parliament. This is reported by the Luxembourg Times.
The Isle of Man Central Register has announced it has hired cybersecurity firm SQR to provide “seamless verification” of the identity of beneficial owners of local businesses. This was reported by Global Government Fintech.
Beneficiaries, according to local law, are considered to be persons who control at least 25% of the shares or interests of companies registered in the Isle of Man.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry is making fundamental changes to the apostille system. According to the SAMAA portal, this is being done in order to "fight the agent mafia."
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) may return the United Arab Emirates to the list of jurisdictions subject to enhanced monitoring, also known as the “grey list”. This was reported by Infolibre.
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), at its plenary meeting held in Singapore, made decisions on the status of Monaco, Venezuela, Turkey and Jamaica.
The Supreme Court of the Indian state of Kerala issued a ruling that declared information contained in government registers public. This was reported by Verdictum.
On June 26, 2024, the regulation establishing the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) officially came into force. Reuters reports this.
AMLA's two main objectives will be EU-wide anti-money laundering supervision and support to national financial intelligence units in European countries.
The Finnish Patent and Registration Office has removed about 1,500 limited liability companies and cooperatives from the country's trade register. This was reported by the Cision News portal.
Schmidt & Schmidt previously reported that about 5,200 Finnish companies could be excluded from the trade register in 2024.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is creating a unified register that will contain data on all recipients of social assistance, benefits and other social guarantees from the state. At the same time, it will be connected in real time with the register of persons liable for military service “Obereg”, the register of rights to real estate, the register of vehicles, the register of civil status acts and all other registers. According to information from the Judicial-Legal Gazette, the corresponding normative act has already been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) plans to remove Turkey from its “grey list” of jurisdictions subject to enhanced monitoring. Report news agency writes about this with reference to the Turkish publication Hurriyet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On the legalization of Russian and foreign official documents and on the requisition of personal documents.” A message about this was posted on the official website of the head of state. Previously, the law was adopted by State Duma deputies and approved by the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. One of the fundamental innovations of the law will be the abolition of the ban on the export of certain personal documents of citizens from the country, which has been in force since Soviet times.
Sworn translators in the Netherlands are demanding higher wages and criticizing the policy of the country's authorities on issues related to official translation.
On March 7, 2020, the order of the Ministry of justice of Ukraine No. 702/5 dated February 27, 2020 "On amendments to the procedure for apostille affixing on official documents issued by justice bodies and courts, as well as on documents that are issued by notaries of Ukraine"came into force.
