On January 13, 2025, Belgium and Finland formally objected to the accession of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention), the portal of the Hague Conference on Private International Law reported.
Who refused to recognize Bangladesh apostilles
In addition to Belgium and Finland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany have also spoken out against Bangladesh joining the Convention in 2024. They cite Article 12(2) of the Convention, which states that “the accession shall be effective only as between the acceding State and the Contracting States which do not raise an objection to it within six months of receiving the notification.”
Thus, the five above-mentioned countries will not recognize apostilles on Bangladeshi documents. Most likely, people using the relevant documents will have to undergo the procedure of consular legalization - a longer, more complicated and expensive one. In turn, the Bangladeshi authorities may not accept apostilles from those countries that opposed the People's Republic's accession to the Convention.
It should be noted that in recent years, official Berlin has been massively refusing to recognize the accession of new members to the Hague Convention.
How Bangladesh Joined the Apostille Convention
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh officially deposited its instruments of accession to the Apostille Convention at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on 29 July 2024.
The document will come into force for Bangladesh on March 30, 2025. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been appointed as the authority authorized to certify documents with apostille.
The official ceremony of depositing the documents took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, which is the depository of the Convention. It was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Dr. Hasan Mahmud, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Netherlands Riaz Hamidullah and other representatives of the Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic. The documents were received from them by the Head of the Treaty Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Jules van Eindhoven.
After the documents were submitted, a change of power took place in Bangladesh. However, the new government continues to adhere to the requirements of the Apostille Convention.
What is an apostille?
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