PRC Accedes to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents

On 8 March 2023, the People’s Republic of China ("PRC") formally acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents ("Convention") (available here). The Convention will come into force in the PRC on 7 November 2023. The accession to the Convention will have the effect of abolishing the traditional requirement of legalisation, replacing the long and costly legalisation process with the issuance of a single Apostille certificate by a competent authority in the place where the document originates. The PRC has designated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as its competent authority. Authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, the Foreign Affairs Offices of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government can issue the certificates relating to public documents emanating from within their respective administrative areas.

There are also several issues of note regarding the PRC’s accession to the Convention.

1. The Convention explicitly defines "public documents" in Article 2, which includes:

   
   

   • documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State; 
   • administrative documents; 
   • notarial acts; 
   • official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity. 

   
   

   However, there is no corresponding definition of "public documents" under the PRC laws. One similar concept is "public documentary evidence" (公文书证) under the Rules of Evidence issued by the PRC Supreme Court in 2020, but courts in different provinces still have different interpretations regarding the definition and scope of "public documentary evidence". Therefore, such key issue regarding the scope and definition of "public documents" to which the Convention could apply is still subject to further interpretation by the PRC legislation authority.

2. According to Item 2 of the declarations ("Declarations") issued by the PRC, the Convention will not be applicable between the PRC and those contracting states that the PRC does not recognise as sovereign states. According to Item 4 of the Declarations, Item 2 of the Declarations applies to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region (which are part of the PRC but separate jurisdictions), which means the legalisation of foreign public documents between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong or Macao will continue to follow the current mechanisms.