A Study On The Necessity And Feasibility Of China’s Accession To The Hague Apostille Convention

In 1961,in order to promote the transnational circulation of a country’s domestic public documents and facilitate the exchanges and cooperation between countries,the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents(hereinafter referred to as the Hague Apostille Convention).The legalization referred to in the Convention is consular legalization.It is the management activity of the foreign ministry of a country’s public documents and the foreign embassies and consulates.Prior to the signing of the Convention,national laws and regulations on the scope and specific procedures of consular legalization were different.The requirement for consular legalization led to problems such as long time-consuming and costly documents.Therefore,the international community has been working to simplify and eliminate legalization.The Hague Apostille Convention replaces the different consular legalizations of Contracting States by means of additional certificates.To date,the increasing number of States parties to the Convention and the positive practices of the States Parties demonstrate the success of the Convention.As a large developing country,China has adhered to the traditional consular legalization practice in the increasingly frequent international civil and commercial exchanges.It not only hinders the development of foreign-related civil and commercial activities,but also is not conducive to the cooperation between China and other countries in the judicial and administrative fields.In line with international trends,China should increase its research on the Hague Apostille Convention and the practice of Contracting States,analyze the necessity and feasibility of joining the Convention,and actively promote the simplification of the consular legalization process in China to promote the cross-border movement of Chinese public documents.This paper mainly uses the literature research method and the comparative analysis method.On the basis of combing the literature,it conducts a more in-depth study on the historical background and development of the Hague Apostille Convention,focusing on the system of the Convention and the consular legalization system in China.The similarities and differences,the necessity of China’s accession to the Convention and the feasibility issues are discussed.This article is divided into three chapters.The first chapter focuses on the development of the Hague Apostille Convention and the history and development of the consular certification system in China.It highlights the additional certification system of the Convention and the transformation of the certification method in China.By comparing China’s current consular certification system and additional certificate system,objective analysis of some of the shortcomings of China’s consular certification system.The second chapter discusses the necessity of simplifying and even canceling the certification in China from the "One Belt,One Road" initiative proposed by China.From the aspects of international civil and commercial affairs and foreign-related civil litigation,it is argued that the positive impact of joining the Hague Apostille Convention will have a positive impact on China.Compared with the shortcomings of the Convention itself,joining the Convention is obviously more beneficial to China.The third chapter analyzes the feasibility of China’s accession to the Convention from the perspective of the Hague Apostille Convention and the conflicts and solutions between China’s domestic law and consular certification system.At the same time,in combination with the requirements of the Convention for the establishment of relevant institutions of the State Party,the experience of other Contracting States in the establishment of certification fees and cycle,and the improvement of China’s notarization system,more specific recommendations are made for China’s accession to the Convention.