Maria Amakali
Windhoek-The Ministry of Justice has urged the public – especially students who wish to study abroad – to get their documents authenticated as soon as possible before their departure.
Before a public document can be used in another country its origin must be authenticated
According to ministerial spokesperson Simon Idipo, an apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of the document.
“This needs to be done on all public documents issued by a government office or other public institutions bearing the coat of arms/seal of the Republic of Namibia or another state which is a party to the [Hague] Convention.”
Idipo explained in an event were a public document is to be used in a state which is not a state party to the convention, then the legalisation method to authenticate the origin of the document is done at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.
Apostilles are being processed by the directorate of legal services and then issued by the permanent secretary or the deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice.
The documents to be authenticated range from documents originating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State; including those coming from a public prosecutor, a clerk of court or a process-server, 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 document and government documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, school leaving certificates.
Apostilles are issued in terms of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents to which Namibia agreed to in January 30, 2001.
The convention has 112 member states.