Overview

Having occupied an observer’s role since 1968, Indonesia has now finally ratified the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (“Apostille Convention”), through the issuance of Regulation of the President No. 2 of 2021 on the Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (“Regulation 2/2021”), which came into effect on 5 January 2021.[1] This measure was taken in order to improve Indonesia’s public services, as well as to give its ease of doing business ranking a boost, as the Apostille Convention has now made it possible for Indonesia to abolish the mandatory legalization processes involved in the utilization of certain public documents.[2] The country will in the future thus be able to employ a more simplified set of procedures for the certification of public documents that involve the issuance of Apostille certificates.[3]