Легализация документов как форма консульской защиты прав граждан за рубежом

Abstract

The article reflects the problems of recognition of foreign documents in the Republic of Belarus, legalization of Belarusian documents abroad as well as legal regulation in this sphere. The author studies the aspects of legalization of documents by the authorized bodies in the Republic of Belarus for their use both in the country and abroad, gives analysis of legal regulation of the legalization process carried out by the special bodies in the Republic of Belarus in comparison with the specific features of law in this field of the developed European states. The author also considers the legalization procedure for the documents issued in the countries that have no consular offices in the Republic of Belarus. The reasons for refusal in legislation also are given. German law is shown as an example in the sphere of documents legalization. The author also focuses on the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legislation of official documents in foreign countries. The article examines the problems that Belarusian citizens face during the legalization process such as: absence of consular offices in some foreign countries, changes in legalization procedure, development of the way of payment for legalization services and suggests possible variants of solution of these problems. The author describes the procedure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' mediation in the documents legalization process and draws up a list of international treaties in the sphere of documents legalization that the Republic of Belarus is party to.