THE APOSTILLE CONVENTION TO TAKE DOMESTIC EFFECT (Singapore)

Introduction
On 2 November 2020, the Singapore Parliament passed the Apostille Bill, which will allow for Singapore’s obligations under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (“Apostille Convention”) to take domestic effect. The Apostille Convention facilitates the use of public documents abroad through the use of a simplified one-step process, the apostillisation. The Apostille Act 2020 (“Act”), which is expected to come into force in 2021, will also transfer the legalisation function from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“MFA”) to the Singapore Academy of Law (“SAL”), in line with the aim of streamlining processes. This article compares the simplified process under the Act with the current procedure for the authentication and legalisation of public documents for recognition outside of Singapore. The latter will remain applicable for countries that are not signatories to the Apostille Convention.

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