Apostille Act 2020 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Proof of Origin of Foreign Public Documents
11. Effect of Convention certificate if used
Feedback & supportThis section applies if a document purporting to be a Convention certificate (called in this section the purported certificate) is placed on or attached to a document purporting to be a foreign public document (called in this section the certified document).
Convention certificate
“Convention certificate”, in relation to a foreign public document or a document purporting to be a foreign public document, means a certificate issued —(a)to certify the document for the purposes of the Convention; and(b)by an authority that, at the time of issuing the certificate, is designated by the State in which territory the document was executed, or from which the document emanates, as competent to issue the certificate in respect of the document.
Subject to subsection (3), the origin of the certified document is presumed to be sufficiently proven.
Subsection (2) does not apply —
if the contrary is proven;
if it is proven that the certified document is not in fact a foreign public document;
if it is proven that the purported certificate is not in fact a Convention certificate in relation to the certified document; or
if, and to the extent that, it is proven that —
the purported certificate suffers from any of the following defects:
the certificate is not in, or substantially in, the form of the Model Certificate;
any information required by the Model Certificate is omitted (unless the omitted information is not applicable to the certified document);
the purported certificate has been damaged, tampered with or modified;
the purported certificate is no longer placed on or attached to the certified document; and
the defect affects the authenticity or reliability of the purported certificate in relation to the certified document.