The convention will come into force from the date of publication of Decree No. 8.660/2016 in the internal legal sphere, however in the external legal sphere the convention will come into force from August 14, 2016. Therefore, before this date and including this date, the legalization of documents will be necessary.
From the aforementioned accession and promulgation, a reduction in time and costs will be guaranteed for citizens and companies between Brazil and the contracting States that already apply the instrument, since it will not be necessary to legalize public Brazilian documents in the adhering States and public foreign documents of these States adhering to the Convention in Brazil.
According to Article 1 of the Convention, the simplification applies to public documents that are: (i) those issued by an authority or public agent linked to any jurisdiction of the State, including documents originating from the Public Prosecutor's Office, a court clerk, or a bailiff; (ii) administrative documents; (iii) notarial acts; and (iv) official statements affixed to documents of a private nature, such as certificates proving the registration of a document or its existence. In the same legal provision, the Convention does not apply to documents issued by diplomatic or consular agents; and administrative documents directly related to commercial or customs transactions. Therefore, in general, powers of attorney, notarial certificates, among others, will not require legalization.
Despite this simplification, the affixing of the apostille to the foreign document may be required to attest to the authenticity of the signature, the function or position held by the signatory of the document, and, where applicable, the authenticity of the seal or stamp affixed to the document attested by the apostille, in accordance with Article 4 and the Annex of the Convention, issued by the competent authority of the State in which the document originates.
Finally, despite this simplification, the convention does not exclude common practices among countries, such as internal registrations and translations. In the case of Brazil, for example, registration with the official registry of titles and documents will prevail to generate effects before third parties in Brazil, pursuant to Article 130, paragraph 6 of Federal Law No. 6.015/73, which regulates the issue of Public Registries; and sworn translation will also prevail as necessary under Article 224 of the Civil Code.
