The Hague Conference on Private International Law (la Conférence de La Haye de droit international privé) is a global inter-governmental organisation. The first meeting was held in 1893 and the organisation became permanent in 1955. The conference was established to try and build bridges between different legal systems operating in countries which have a need to carry out personal or business transactions with each other. These transactions may be affected by differences between the legal systems in those countries. With a view to resolving these differences, States have adopted special rules known as "private international law" rules.

The Conference has adopted a number of Conventions to unify member states and this is where the Apostille Certificate is derived from. Convention 12 has been adopted by many member states to abolish the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalisation for foreign public documents.

In place of consular legalisation a member state can issue Apostille Certificates to public documents which are to be used outside of the country of origin. The Apostille Certificate must contain specific information and will be accepted in any country that also issues Apostilles for its own documents.

More information available here - Apostille Certificate