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The superlegalization of seals and signatures on official documents*
Superlegalization represents a procedure for certifying the authenticity of seals and signatures affixed to an official document by the issuing institution, for the formal recognition of the document by the authorities of another state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs superlegalizes the seals and signatures affixed either by public authorities or other institutions in Romania on Romanian official documents that are to be used abroad, or by Romanian diplomatic missions abroad or by diplomatic missions of other states accredited in our country on foreign documents that are to be used in Romania. The superlegalization procedure has the legal effect of certifying the authenticity of an official document from a formal point of view, by confirming the veracity of the signatures and seals affixed to official documents, as well as the capacity in which the issuing institutions and their officials acted. The formalities carried out during this procedure are part of a chain of successive operations of superlegalizing official documents issued in one state, which are to be used in another state.
In the case of Romanian official documents to be used abroad, superlegalization involves going through the following operations in this order:
- the internal procedure for endorsement of the Romanian official document by the issuing institutions, as the case may be, and the relevant ministry / central institution
- superlegalization by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
- superlegalization by the Romanian diplomatic mission / consular office accredited in the state where the document will be used or, alternatively, by the foreign diplomatic mission / consular office accredited in Romania,
- superlegalization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the foreign state where the document will be used.
In the case of foreign official documents to be used in Romania, superlegalization involves, similarly, going inline with the following subsequent operations in this order:
- the internal procedure for endorsement of the foreign official document by the competent local authorities,
- superlegalization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing state,
- superlegalization by the Romanian diplomatic mission / consular office accredited in the issuing state or, alternatively, by the foreign diplomatic mission / consular office accredited in Romania,
- superlegalization by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It is important to emphasize that superlegalization is only a requirement of form and must not be confused with substantive recognition of official documents. In order to produce on the territory of another state the legal effects determined by the nature of its content and its purpose, an official document must generally go through certain special procedures, provided by the internal legislation of the state in which it is to be used. As examples in this regard, one can mention the judicial procedure for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court judgment, the procedure for transcribing a foreign civil status certificate into the national civil status registers, or the procedure for equivalence of foreign study diplomas internally. Consequently, superlegalization does not exempt official documents from fulfilling the procedures necessary for the recognition of the substantive legal effects of those documents, but it may constitute a necessary formal requirement for initiating these procedures.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs*
Str. Modrogan, nr. 14,Sector 1
Telefon:
0213192138
Fax:
Email:
secretar.general@mae.ro
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Institutional structure
Departamentul Consular