180. Presentation of the Federal Chancellor concerning the scope of the Convention on the Liberation of Foreign Public Documents from the certification

According to information from the Dutch Government, the following other countries have their instruments of accession to the Convention for the Liberation of Foreign Public Certificates of Certification (BGBl. No. 27/1968, last proclamation of the BGBl area. III, No 103/2009):

States:	Date of deposit of the instrument of accession:
Costa Rica	6 April 2011
Dominican Republic 1	12 December 2008
Cape Verde	7 May 2009
Kyrgyzstan 2	15 November 2010
Mongolia 3	2 April 2009
Oman	12 May 2011
Peru	13. January 2010
Uzbekistan	25 July 2011

On the occasion of the deposit of their instrument of accession, the following states have made the following statements:

Costa Rica:

According to Article 6 of the Convention, the Government of Costa Rica has the Department of Credence of the Directorate-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kultus (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto) of Costa Rica as a competent authority.

Dominican Republic:

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention for the Liberation of Foreign Public Certificates of authentication, the competent Dominican authority is the State Secretariat for the issuance of the Apostille in accordance with Article 3 (1) of the said Convention Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Section for Creatation of the Consular Department.

Cape Verde:

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the competent authorities of the Republic of Cape Verde are responsible for issuing the Apostille pursuant to Article 3 of the said Convention and the Directorate-General for the Registration and Notarial Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the Directorate-General for Consular and Community Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kyrgyzstan:

State institutions have the right to affix Apostilles to documents of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the Convention:

-		Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic;
-		State Service for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic;
-		General Prosecutor's Office of the Kyrgyz Republic;
-		Court Department of the Kyrgyz Republic;
-		Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic;
-		State Service of the Finance Police of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Mongolia:

According to Article 6 of the Convention, Mongolia has been designated as the competent authority by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Mongolia.

Oman:

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (consular department)

Peru:

According to Article 6 of the Convention on the Liberation of Foreign Public Documents of the authentication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Directorate-General for Consular Policy in Peru-was designated as the competent authority.

Uzbekistan:

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following authorities shall be designated to issue the Apostille in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention:

-		Ministry of Justice-for official records of courts and judicial authorities;
-		General Prosecutor's Office-for official records of the public prosecutor's office and investigative and investigative authorities;
-		State "Testing Center" under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan-for official documents of education and scientific authorities;
-		Ministry of Foreign Affairs-for all other official documents.

According to other communications from the Netherlands Government, the following countries have amended their authorities as follows: Supplemented:

Andorra 4 :

The competent authorities to issue an apostille pursuant to Article 3 (1) of the Convention are:

-		The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Institutional Relations,
-		The Director-General for Foreign Affairs and Institutional Relations,
-		The Director/Director for General, Bilateral and Consular Affairs,
-		The Director for Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation.

Belarus 5 :

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

-		Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus-for documents issued by courts, the Centre for Judicial Reports and Criminalism of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, the Republican Labour Court of the Republic of Belarus, the regional justice administrations, the judicial administration of the Executive Committee of the city of Minsk, Notarial archives and notaries;
-		Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus-Certificates issued by educational institutions;
-		Department of Archives and File Management of the Ministry of Justice-documents issued by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus;
-		Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus-for all other documents, including for the documents, which are within the competence of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, as well as the responsibility of the Department of Archives and File management of the Ministry of Justice to be forwarded to Belarus by the Belarusian diplomatic representatives or consulates and/or requested (received) by the Belarusian diplomatic representatives or consulates.

Fiji 6 :

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

-		The State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Civil Aviation.

Georgia 7 :

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

1.		Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia;
2.		Supreme Court of Georgia;
3.		Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia;
4.		Civil agency, Ministry of Justice of Georgia;
5.		Service Agency of the Interior Ministry of Georgia.

Italy 11 :

Since 31 March 2011, the competent authority for civil status documents is 'les actes de l' état civil', the local Prefect, the Aosta Valley, the President of the Region, and the Provinces of Trento and Bolzano of the Government Commissioner.

Netherlands 8 :

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consisted of three parts: the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. The Netherlands Antilles consisted of the islands of Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. With effect from 10. In October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles were to be held as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since that day, the kingdom has been composed of four parts: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Curaçao and Sint Maarten enjoy as much as Aruba-and up to 10. October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles-within the Kingdom of Internal Self-Government.

It is a change in the internal constitutional structure of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of the Netherlands remains the subject of international law, which is the subject of international law. The change in the structure of the Kingdom therefore has no consequences for the validity of the international conventions ratified by the Kingdom of the Kingdom of the Kingdom of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. These Conventions, including any reservations made, continue to apply to Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

The other islands, which were part of the Netherlands Antilles-Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba-became part of the Netherlands and form as such "the Caribbean part of the Netherlands". The Conventions currently in force for the Netherlands Antilles continue to apply to these islands; however, the Government of the Netherlands will now assume responsibility for the implementation of these Conventions.

Competent authority for Aruba:

Director of the Department of Certifications and Legal Affairs.

Responsible authorities for Curacao:

-		Head of the Department of Civil Status Register, Ministry of Public Administration, Planning and Services (Head Civil Status Register Division);
-		Head of Information Systems and Quality Management (Head Information Systems and Quality Management).

Competent authorities for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba:

The respective authorities (Gezaghebbers) for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

The competent authority for Sint Maarten will be announced as soon as possible.

Romania 9 :

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

-		Courts are the competent authorities for official documents in accordance with Art. 1 lit. a and d of the Convention;
-		Notarial chambers are the competent authorities for official documents in accordance with Art. 1 lit. c of the Convention;
-		Offices of the Prefects are the competent authorities for official documents according to Art. 1 lit. b of the Convention.

Russian Federation 10 :

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

1.		Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation;
		Categories of public documents, for which Apostilles can be issued:
-			documents of federation bodies of executive power and of natural and legal persons who were notarial evidence;
-			Documents of territorial organs of federation organs of executive power, of organs of executive authority of subjects of the Russian Federation, of notaries, of organs of local self-government;
2.		The Attorney General of the Russian Federation;
3.		The Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation;
4.		The registry offices of the administrative authorities under the authority of the Russian Federation;
5.		The Federal Archives Office and the authorized bodies for archival affairs of the administrative authorities under the authority of the Russian Federation;
6.		Executive bodies of the Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation;
		be entitled to issue apostilles for diplomas, certificates of academic degrees and titles, in accordance with state-approved forms;
7.		The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on official collections of the Military Service (Employment) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces of the USSR and the Joint Armed Forces of the Community Independent States (CIS), issued in the Russian Federation.

Spain 11 :

The Ministry of Justice of Spain has set up a new system for the issuing of apostilles, which allows to issue apostilles in both electronic and paper form. Since 16 May 2011, the new system has been tested in two competent authorities (the Supreme Courts of the Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha region), and is then gradually being used by the competent authorities in Spain. The competent authorities, formerly known as Secretaries de Gobierno de las Audiencias (Secretaries de Gobierno de las Audiencias), are now officially designated as ' Office of the Supreme Courts of the Autonomous Communities of Spain (Secretarías de Gobierno de los Tribunales Superiores de Justicia).

The most important features of the new system will be explained below:

Format of the Apostille

-		Since May 16, the Apostille, issued in the new system, corresponds to the enclosed pattern (see annexes) and is digitally signed.
-		Apostilles for paper documents issued in the new system are printed and either printed on the document or affixed to the document with metal clips and marks.
-		Electronic apostilles issued in the new system will also be digitally signed and contain the public document as an annex. The digital apostille guarantees that the apostille and the underlying electronic public document will not be changed after their exhibition.
-		For a transitional period and until the new system for the issuing of apostilles is provided in all the competent authorities, the Spanish Government will issue both the current and the new Apostille form, with both equally valid and authentic.

e-Register of Apostilles

-		The authenticity of the apostilles issued by the competent authorities in Spain can be verified in the Spanish electronic apostille register on the website of the Ministry of Justice. The exact website is listed in the Apostille.
-		For electronic apostilles, the e-register also enables the authenticity of the underlying electronic public document to be checked.

St. Kitts and Nevis 12 :

for St. Kitts and Nevis or the island of St. Kitts:

the Attorney General, the Advocate General, the Secretary of State at the Office of the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the Supreme Court's Register Guide;

for the island of Nevis:

the Secretary of State at the Office of the Prime Minister, the Legal Counsellor in the Legal Department or the Deputy Supreme Court Register Leader, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance of the Nevis Island Administration.

Tonga 6 :

All apostilles issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Tonga and its designated diplomatic missions shall be subject to an administrative fee prior to their issuing.

In accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the following competent authority has been designated:

-		Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Immigration & Citizenship, including certain diplomatic missions of the Government of Tonga.

Hungary 13 :

1.		The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of the Republic of Hungary with regard to the public documents and certificates issued by the judicial authorities, with the exception of the public documents issued and certified by notaries;
2.		The Hungarian Notarial Chamber on the public documents issued and certified by notaries;
3.		The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary with regard to the public documents issued and certified by other authorities.

Faymann