What does legalisation or authentication of a document mean?
Legalisation or authentication means confirmation of the authenticity of origin of a document. It is usually done by having an official stamp placed on the document by the consulate of the country in which the document is to be used. The idea is best explained by example. If you have a contract you are signing in England which concerns delivery of goods or services to another country – that other country’s laws may require that the contract is legalised. Usually, this will mean that the contract not only has to be signed in front of the notary, but that the consulate of the country concerned also has to stamp the document. Sometimes there are additional stamps to be obtained. All this is part of the process of legalisation. Effectively, the purpose of all the stamping is to prove that the document was validly signed. To cut down bureaucracy, many countries have signed the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents 1961.
