The Ministry of Law and Human Rights has enforced the Apostille certificate since June 4, 2022 based on the Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights No. 6 of 2022 concerning Apostille Legalization Services on Public Documents (“RM 6/2022”), which implements regulation of the Presidential Regulation No. 2 of 2021 concerning Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Document/Apostille Convention (“PR 2/2021”), which states that Indonesia has acceded to this International Convention on Apostille. Accession to an international treaty means that the country is bound by an international treaty, and the international treaty will become a law in Indonesia after the agreement applies to Indonesia.

Apostille service simplifies the process of legalization foreign public documents by adopting a legalization model that is fast, affordable and adapts to global developments that bridge the interests of cross-border civil law, which is organized by the Director General of General Legal Administration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as the central authority, as well as a competent authority that performs verification based on specimens that have been submitted and stored in the database of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The implementation of the Apostille Convention in Indonesia will have an impact on increasing various sectors, especially investment law in Indonesia.

If the verification results state that there is a conformity between the contents of the application form and the uploaded supporting documents, fit with the official’s signature, ratification of the stamp, and/or official seal on the document requested for legalization with the specimen in the database of the Directorate General of General Legal Administration, and/or match the electronic signature on electronic documents, the Directorate General of General Legal Administration issues an Apostille certificate as evidence that foreign public documents are legalized and can be used in the destination country. Furthermore, RM 6/2022, as the applicable regulation in Indonesia, states that the applicant is fully responsible for the correctness of the submitted Apostille application and the use of the Apostille document.

Apostille is carried out on documents issued in the territory of Indonesia and will be used in the territory of other countries that are parties to the convention, including:

1. Documents originating from an authority or official related to courts or state tribunals, including those from public prosecutors, court clerks or bailiffs;
2. Administrative documents;
3. Documents issued by a notary; and
4. An official certificate attached to a document signed by an individual within his civil authority, such as a certificate that records the document’s registration, or which records a certain validity period of a document on a certain date, and ratification of signatures by officials and a notary.

Moreover, the documents that are excluded from the Apostille include:

1. Documents signed by diplomatic or consular officials;
2. Administrative documents directly related to commercial or customs activities; and
3. Documents issued by the prosecutor’s office as a prosecution agency as stated in PR 2/2021.

Schinder Law Firm has had years of experience in company law Indonesia and investment law in Indonesia, including apostille. If you need help or consultation, feel free to send us an email at info@schinderlawfirm.com.