By Tamaryn Campbell (Attorney l Conveyancer l Notary)
Authentication of documents is required where a document is signed in one country and is to be used in another country. Different rules apply when a document is authenticated for use in South Africa and for when a document is authenticated for use outside of South Africa.
When a person is seeking legal assistance for the authentication of the documents, a Notary Public should be called upon to attend thereto. The Notary Public will then attest to the signature’s authenticity, in other words; verify the signature thereon.
There are different procedures followed when authenticating documents for use inside South Africa and Rule 63 of the High Court Uniform Rules of Court should be followed. Instances where a document is deemed to be sufficiently authenticated includes where it bears the signature and seal of offices of the head of the South African diplomatic or consular mission; or the consul-general, consul, vice-consul or consular agent of the United Kingdom; or any government authority of such foreign country duly authorised in terms of their law; or a notary public in in Zimbabwe, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Botswana, Lesotho or Swaziland.
However, in 1961 a number of countries entered into a convention for the abolition of the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalisation for foreign documents. South Africa became party to the Hague Convention in 1995. Therefore, if both of the countries are party to the Hague Convention, the convention provides that in order to certify the authenticity, the only formality is that an Apostille certificate should be issued by the competent authority and placed on the document. This applies to documents authenticated for use within South Africa and outside of South Africa.
Where the country is not a party to the Hague Convention and the documents are required for authentication to be used outside of South Africa, the Notary Public will be required to follow certain procedures, depending on the country’s formal requirements. The Notary Public will also be required to affix a certificate of authentication to the document that they are attesting to.
Another important point to note is that depending on the country, the documents may need to be translated into the applicable language of the country in which the documents will be used in.
