Online Apostille Document Legalization Service as a Debureaucratization Effort in Indonesia

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The Apostille Convention was formed to overcome the problem of obstacles to de-bureaucratization by simplifying procedures and public documents that have been equipped with an apostille and are to be accepted by member countries of the agreement. Indonesia, through the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Directorate General of AHU, has opened an Apostille service which simplifies the legalization process for public documents issued in Indonesia by eliminating the legalization stage put in place by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy/Consular.

To facilitate the legalization of administration, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has implemented online access so that the parties who require legalization can be accessed through the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights or through a Notary who has the authority in the Apostille Convention.

Research Results

The research using normative research methods focuses on the process of legalizing the Apostille after the enactment of the Apostille Convention in Indonesia. Legalization of the Apostille Documents can be done online in Indonesia. With the existence of online services for legalizing documents, in carrying out their position for the purposes of legalizing the Apostille, each notary must send a sample of their signature to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

Diplomatic relations and cooperation between countries and between citizens in the current era of globalization have no limits, especially in the fields of business and education, because they are all for the benefit of establishing relations with other countries. Cooperation between one country and another has been growing steadily. When citizens of one particular country interact with citizens of other countries, there will be civil, legal relations. On the other hand, in establishing such cooperation, important administrative requirements that must be completed. As such, the legalization of foreign public documents sometimes become obstacles in establishing relations between the two countries, especially in the administrative process and due to the high cost of obtaining legalization of public documents needed for various purposes.

Moreover, public documents that have been legalized by institutions or ministries in Indonesia may not be automatically accepted in the destination country. The demand for international public documents is also increasing with each passing day. These documents can include birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, education certificates, and other important documents needed in daily life and in legal proceedings. Therefore, international cooperation in document legalization is very important to facilitate interactions between citizens effectively and efficiently. For example, notarial deeds, power of attorney, and other documents must be legalized before they can be recognised by the destination country.

To overcome this impasse, there is an institution called Apostille as an institution for attesting an official’s signature, stamp attestation, and/or an official seal on a public document through matching with a specimen through one agency, one of which is the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as the Competent Authority. The documents that can be submitted include the legalization of 66 types of public documents that are standard in visa applications and marriage registration (mixed marriages), as well as education and training requirements abroad such as diplomas and transcripts, and public documents. The existence of this Apostille institution makes the process of legalizing public foreign documents in Indonesia easier, faster and more efficient.

How It Helps

In using documents abroad, Indonesia has several legalization processes, including at the issuing institution, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For example, if in a civil case in the Jakarta District Court one of the parties lives abroad and authorizes a lawyer in Jakarta, the client who is abroad cannot directly sign the power of attorney sent by his lawyer from Jakarta. Here is how the conventional system works. 

1. The document is submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country concerned to legalize the signature of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights official.
2. The document is then sent to the Embassy or Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia in the country concerned to be legalized again.
3. It is then sent back to the client’s lawyer in Jakarta with the stamp and legalization signature of the relevant agency, so that it can be filed with the Jakarta District Court.

Indonesia’s commitment to the Apostille Convention is realised through the Apostille Service organized by the Directorate General of General Legal Administration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as the appointed Competent Authority. As a party to the Apostille Convention, Indonesia has issued Presidential Regulation Number 2 of 2021 concerning the Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents or the Apostille Convention. The Apostille Convention is a convention established in order to simplify administrative processes by acceding to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents (“the Convention”).

The Apostille Convention was established to address this issue. With this convention, formal legalization procedures will be simplified, and apostilled public documents will be accepted by member states. An Apostille Certificate is a certificate that authenticates the validity of the origin of the document along with the signature of the official who authorized certain public documents, including diplomas, birth certificates, divorce certificates, power of attorney, and death certificates. Apostille guarantees the authenticity of a document by an examination by an authorized official on several points: the authenticity of the document that produced the signature, assurance of the individual’s ability to sign the form, and the identity of the document’s seal or stamp

INDONESIA Prospective

Application of Document legalization through Apostille in Indonesia

Indonesia has registered as one of the countries participating in the Apostille convention to attest documents. Apostille certificates have long been used in many countries, including: South Korea. It is stipulated that all foreign official documents used in South Korea must be accompanied by an Apostille certificate.

The Apostille Convention provision is a middle ground to accommodate the attestation of a public document with more effective terms and procedures. In order to support Indonesia to reach the top 40 in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index, the Directorate General of General Legal Administration has accessed the Apostille Convention to cut the authentication of documents to be legalized from 5 (five) to only 1 (one) Agency in accordance with Presidential Regulation 2 of 2021. Convention Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention 1961) is an Apostille convention acceded by Indonesia. This convention was signed in The Hague, Netherlands, on 5 October 1961. The Apostille Convention aims to remove the requirement for diplomatic or consular legalization of foreign public documents, as stated in the preamble of the Convention.^[1]

The Apostille Convention entered into force on 21 January 1965 with 120 participating countries. The provisions contained in the Apostille Convention apply to public documents created in the territory of a state party that accedes the Apostille Convention into the laws of its country to ease legalization requirements. Documents that fall under the definition of public documents should only be “Apostille” if they are signed abroad. By acceding to the Apostille Convention, Indonesia becomes a state party to the Convention and must make changes to the legalization process that is usually carried out by the Government of Indonesia with the legalization process using the Apostille service.^[2]

The legal basis for the enactment of this Apostille in Indonesia is:

Convention Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents.

Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2021 on the Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents.

Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2022 concerning Apostille legalization Services on Public Documents.

Regulation of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia Number 101/PMK.02/2022 on Types and Rates of Non-Tax State Revenue for Urgent Needs for Apostille legalization Services on Public Documents Applicable to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia Number M.HH-01.AH.03.01 of 2022 concerning List of Types of Documents for Apostille legalization Services on Public Documents.

For an Apostille to be accepted, the document must be issued or approved by an official recognized by the authority. Apostille certificate contains 10 Apostille elements. An apostille certificate can be stamped or issued on paper consisting of 10 squares on a dartboard. The notice can be attached to the document, including the back of the paper, or attached to the paper as a page or as a paper attached to the document. Adding an apostille to a document certifies the authenticity of the authorized signature on the document to the recipient under the status of another signature.

The Apostille legalization Service has been accessible to the public since 4 June 2022 in line with the provisions of Article 12 of the Apostille Convention, and was officially launched on 14 June 2022 by the Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights. Even now it can be accessed online through the Directorate General of General Legal Administration online page with the link address https://apostille.ahu.go.id/.

The apostille service organised by the Directorate General of Legal Administration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has the following requirements and procedures:

Requirements:

Identity Card

Documents to be apostilled

Power of attorney if represented

Procedures:

Application submission through the application

Verification of rejected/returned/accepted application (3 working days for verification)

Payment of non-tax state revenue through the system

Issuance of an apostille certificate at the counter at the head office or regional office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (the counter staff prints the Apostille Certificate and attaches the Apostille Certificate to the requested document)

Cost/Time

The apostille document fee is IDR 150,000 per document

Application completion time: (2-3 working days).

In Apostille Convention, Art.1, “The present Convention shall apply to public documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State”. It is explained that an Apostille is a slip of paper that is affixed to the document in question or can also be affixed to the public document in question. If a separate slip of paper is used then it is called an “Allonge.”. (Look at article 4 of the Convention). The scope of this Convention as regulated in Article 1 Paragraph (1) is to apply to so-called public documents and documents that have been created in the territory of one of the participating States and will be implemented in the territory of one of the other participating States. Apostilleis carried out on documents issued in the territory of Indonesia and will be used in the territory of other countries which are parties to the Convention, these documents include:

Documents originating from an authority or official related to a state court or tribunal, including those originating from a public prosecutor, court clerk or bailiff;

Administrative documents;

Document issued by a notary; and

Official certificates attached to documents signed by individuals within their civil authority, such as certificates that record the registration of a document, or record the specific validity period of a document on a certain date, and ratification of signatures by officials and notaries.

However, this Apostille Convention does not apply to:

Documents executed by diplomatic and consular representatives;

Administrative documents directly related to trade or customs operations. These documents are exempt from legalization requirements because generally, in the practice of many countries, these documents are given special treatment.

Furthermore, the Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2022 concerning Apostille Legalization Services on Public Documents, considers;

That to improve services to the public in the field of legalization, a model for legalization of foreign public documents that is fast and has affordable access is needed and adapts to global developments (developments in international private law) that bridge civil legal interests across countries; that with the issuance of Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2021 concerning Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, it is necessary to prepare technical instructions regarding the implementation of Apostille services in Indonesia.

Notary’s Authority Regarding Ratification of Apostille Documents in Indonesia

Article 1 point (1) of Law Number 2 of 2014 concerning Amendments to Law Number 30 of 2004 concerning the Position of Notaries explains that a Notary is a public official who has the authority to make authentic deeds and has other authorities as intended in this Law or under other laws. Until now, Indonesian notaries have been qualified as public officials. Notary as a position can be traced from the existence of the notary’s oath and promise of office as formulated in Article 4.

The freedom referred to is that the Notary in carrying out his office can act neutrally and independently. The general authority of a Notary is regulated in Article 15 of the Law concerning the Position of Notaries, namely that a Notary has the authority to make authentic Deeds regarding all deeds, agreements and provisions that are required by statutory regulations and/or desired by interested parties to be stated in an authentic deed, guarantee certainty of the date of making the deed, keep the deed, provide grosse, copy and quote of the deed. The preparation of these deeds is not assigned or excluded to other officials as determined by law.

Apart from this authority, the notary is given special authority which is carried out by the Notary as regulated in Article 15 paragraph (2), validating signatures and determining the date of private letters by registering them in a special book, recording private letters by registering them in a special book, making copies of handwritten letters in the form of copies containing descriptions as written and depicted in the letter concerned, validating the suitability of the photocopy with the original letter, providing legal counselling in relation to making deeds, making deeds relating to land, and making auction minutes.

The HCCH Apostille Convention

Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents:

The Apostille Convention replaces the traditional and cumbersome legalization process with a single formality: the issuance of a certificate called an Apostille 

An Apostille (issued by the State of origin) authenticates the origin (not the content) of a public document so that it can be presented abroad in another Contracting Party

This facilitates the circulation of public documents internationally for individuals, families, and businesses

The 2010 Investing Across Borders Report recommended that States join the Apostille Convention as it contributes to a regulatory environment that is more conducive to foreign direct investment.

Categories in the Convention

documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a clerk of a court or a process-server (“huissier de justice”)

administrative documents

notarial acts

official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures

Seeks to promote and encourage the use of technology under
the Apostille Convention

Improves accessibility and usability of the Convention using commonly available technologies

Streamlines work processes of Competent Authorities,
generates more user-friendly Apostilles, and enhances security
of cross-border transfer of documents

e-Apostille

An Article 3(1) Certificate issued in electronic form

Signed by electronic signature with a digital certificate

e-Apostilles may be issued on electronic documents or on paper documents that have been scanned/converted into electronic form

e-Register

The Article 7(1) register maintained in a publicly accessible, electronic form

Allows any interested person to verify their Apostille online

While many Contracting Parties maintain an electronic register, the publicly accessible element is what determines whether it will be classified as an e-Register

An Apostille, whether paper or electronic, validly issued by one Contracting Party must be accepted by other Contracting Parties

May not be rejected on the sole ground that they are e-Apostilles

Same requirements as paper Apostilles under the Convention:

Competent Authority must authenticate signature, capacity of person signing, and seal or stamp

must be issued by Competent Authority of the State from which the document emanates

must be attached to the public document

must follow the model in the Convention

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[1] Andy Putra Rusdianto, Ruang. Op.Cit

[2] Ara Anisa Armi,  Mencederai  Aksesi Apostille Convention dalam Mendukung Debirokratisasi Legalisasi Dokumen di Indonesia Injuring the Accession of the Apostille Convention in Supporting the Debureaucratization of Document Legalization in Indonesia, IPMHI Journal, Volume 2 (Juli -Des 2022)