Hague Convention
The Convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents between contracting states and introducing the apostille.
The convention replaces a long chain of certifications — notary, ministry, embassy — with a single stamp recognised by every other contracting state without further confirmation. Russia has been a party since 1992 as the successor to the USSR, which acceded in 1991.
A country's accession does not always take effect for every other party at once: a state may object to an accession, and between those two countries legalisation continues to apply.
Related terms
Apostille
A stamp of a single international form confirming the authenticity of the signature, the seal and the office shown on a public document for use in another country.
OpenCompetent authority
The body authorised to affix an apostille to a given category of Russian documents — a different one for each type of document.
OpenFederal Law No. 330-FZ on affixing apostilles
The law of 28 November 2015 setting out how apostilles are affixed to Russian public documents intended for use abroad.
OpenTreaty on legal assistance
A bilateral or multilateral treaty under which the documents of one country are accepted in the other without an apostille or legalisation.
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