A notarial certificate (notarization) means that a notary or other authorized official performs such a notarial act by making a notarial inscription on a document that meets the requirements for the written form of the transaction.

There are also transactions that are equivalent to notarized ones.

1.2. The legal basis for the notarial certificate of transactions

Civil code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter CC RUz);
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.343-I of 26.12.1996 “On notary”;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. ZRU-517 of 17.01.2019 ” On approval of the Consular Charter of the Republic of Uzbekistan”;
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. ZRU-600 dated 06.01.2020 “On state duty”;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 106 dated 27.02.2017 “On measures to improve the procedure for notarization of transactions using interdepartmental electronic interaction”;
Resolution of the Ministry of justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.21 and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 1 dated 31.01.2011 “On approval of the Instruction about the order of execution of notarial actions by consuls of consular establishments of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (Registered MJ No. 2191 dated 31.01.2011);
Order of the Minister of justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.2-MX from 04.01.2019 “On approval of the Instruction about the order of notarial acts notaries” (Registered MJ No. 3113 from 04.01.2019);
Order of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 111-MX dated 25.05.2011 “On approval of Instructions on the procedure for certifying wills, powers of attorney and statements that are equivalent to notarized” (Registered by the Ministry of justice No. 2231 dated 25.05.2011);
Other legal acts, including consular and other conventions of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

1.3. Transactions which are subject to notarization

Notarization of transactions is mandatory:

in cases specified in the law;
at the request of the parties.

Transactions subject to notarization in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

Article 271 of CC UZ: The mortgage agreement, as well as the agreement on pledge of movable property or rights to property to secure obligations under the agreement, which must be notarized, are subject to notarization, with the exception of mortgage and pledge agreements for the purchase of real estate and vehicles on the primary market.
Article 386 of CC UZ: A contract for the purchase and sale of motor vehicles subject to state registration in accordance with the procedure established by law must be notarized, except in cases established by the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Article 490 of CC UZ: A contract for the sale of an enterprise is concluded in writing by drawing up a single document signed by the parties, with the mandatory attachment of the documents specified in part two of article 491 of this Code, and is subject to notarization and state registration.
Article 497 of CC UZ: A contract for the exchange of motor vehicles subject to state registration in accordance with the procedure established by law must be notarized.
Article 504 of CC UZ: The real estate gift contract must be notarized and is subject to state registration. The contract of gift of motor vehicles subject to state registration in accordance with the procedure established by law must be notarized.
Article 513 of CC UZ: A rental contract is subject to notarization, and a contract providing for the alienation of real estate for payment of rent is also subject to state registration.
Other grounds.

Transactions (will, power of attorney, application) that are equivalent to notarized include:

wills of citizens who are being treated in clinics, hospitals, other inpatient medical institutions or living in nursing homes, certified by the chief doctors, their deputies in the medical Department or doctors on duty at these clinics, hospitals and other medical institutions, as well as the heads of hospitals, Directors or chief doctors of nursing homes;
wills of citizens who are at sea on vessels flying under the flag of the Republic of Uzbekistan, certified by the captains of these vessels;
wills of citizens who are on exploration or other similar expeditions, certified by the heads of these expeditions;
wills, powers of attorney and statements of military personnel, and in locations of military units where there are no notaries, also wills, powers of attorney and statements of civilians working in these units, their family members and family members of military personnel, certified by the commanders of military units, except for powers of attorney for the management and disposal of motor vehicles;
wills, powers of attorney and statements of persons in places of deprivation of liberty or in custody, certified by the heads of the relevant institutions, except for powers of attorney for the management and disposal of motor vehicles;
powers of attorney of military personnel and other persons who are being treated in hospitals, sanatoriums and other military medical institutions, certified by their superiors, their deputies in the medical Department, senior and duty doctors of these institutions, except for powers of attorney for the management and disposal of motor vehicles.

1.4. Persons authorized to perform notarization

Notary certificate is usually issued by notaries or other persons authorized to perform such notarial acts, such as consuls. Persons who carry out the certification of transactions (will, power of attorney, application) that are equivalent to notarized are listed in clause 1.3 (and this list is not subject to broad interpretation).

1.5. Procedure for notarization

When carrying out notarization, a notary or other authorized person (e.g. consul) establishes the identity of applicants and representatives of legal entities (based on a passport, birth certificate, identity card issued by the command of military units and military institutions, or a military ID card etc.), as well as their legal capacity (established in person) and legal personality (based on the constituent documents of the legal entity and its state registration).

Notarization of a transaction is carried out on the basis of an application submitted by the parties to the relevant notary, while the application itself is not notarized.

The notary addressed by one side (party) of the transaction, performs the following actions:

examines the legality of the document confirming the right of ownership, identity document (copy of the identity document of the second party to the transaction) and other documents submitted to the first party to the transaction;
when certifying a transaction via video conferencing, creates a corresponding transaction card and enters data into the automated information system “Notary” (hereinafter-the System);
in direct communication with the first party to the transaction the notary explains what the deal is, the contents and the value of the transaction, validates the content of the transaction to the real purpose of the parties and consistently with the requirements of the act, specifies payments among the parties and after full acquaintance of the parties with the text of the transaction and the notary reading it aloud is signed by the first party to the transaction, and the procedure of fingerprint scanning via video conference is recorded in the System;
on the basis of information about the parties and other mutually agreed terms, draws up a draft transaction in electronic form;
prints out the draft of the transaction placed in the system, and the corresponding part of the transaction is signed by the first party, and also records the entire process of fingerprint scanning in the System via video conferencing, which is stored together with the transaction.

The transaction must contain attesting signature.

The transaction is notarized in the state language. At the request of citizens, the text of the document issued by a notary or a person who issues a notary certificate is issued in Russian or, if possible, in another acceptable language.

1.6. Consequences of non-compliance with the notarized form of the transaction

Failure to comply with the notarized form of the transaction results in its invalidity. Such a transaction is considered void. If one of the parties has fully or partially executed a transaction that requires notarization, and the other party refuses to notarize the transaction, the court may, at the request of the party that executed the transaction, recognize the transaction as valid. In this case, the subsequent notarization of the transaction is not required. Moreover, in this case, the party who unreasonably evades notarization of the transaction must pay the other party damages caused by the delay in the transaction.

2. Legalization

2.1. The concept of consular legalization

Consular legalization of documents and acts of a foreign state consists in establishing and certifying the authenticity of signatures on documents and acts, the authority of the person who signed the document or act, the authenticity of the seal or stamp that is attached to the document and act submitted for legalization, and their compliance with the legislation of the state where the consular institution is located. Consular legalization of documents and acts confirms their competence in international communication.

2.2. The legal basis of implementation of consular legalization

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. ZRU-517 of 17.01.2019 ” On approval of the Consular Charter of the Republic of Uzbekistan”;
Instructions on consular legalization approved by the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 14.02.1997 (Registered by the Ministry of justice No. 313 dated 12.03.1997);
Other legal acts.

2.3. Documents that require consular legalization

Institutions and organizations of the Republic of Uzbekistan accept for consideration documents and acts originating from institutions and organizations of a foreign state only if there is consular legalization, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan or an international treaty to which the Republic of Uzbekistan and the state from whose institutions and organizations these documents and acts originate are parties.

The Consular and legal Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan legalizes powers of attorney to perform any kind of actions abroad on behalf of organizations and institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan that are authorized to perform such operations, as well as other documents related to the activities of these organizations and institutions.

Legalization is not required if:

apostille is affixed (relevant certificate is issued) to the documents;
international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan establish that documents that are produced or certified by an institution or specially authorized person within their competence and in the prescribed form and sealed with a stamp on the territory of one of the Contracting parties are accepted in the territories of other Contracting parties without any special certificate.

Not subject to legalization:

documents and acts that contradict the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
documents and acts that may harm the interests of the state in their content;
documents and acts that are issued in violation of the instructions governing the processing of documents intended for use abroad, or contain information that discredits the honor and dignity of citizens.

Originals and copies of the following documents may not be legalized: passports, party membership documents, trade Union tickets, workbooks, military tickets, originals of documents on education of the internal Republican model, driver’s licenses, on belonging to estates and religions, and other documents on property withdrawn from civil circulation.

2.4. The bodies, authorized to exercise consular legalization

Functions of consular legalization are performed by:

abroad-consular institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
in the Republic of Uzbekistan – the Consular and Legal Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

2.5. Requirements to documents and acts submitted for legalization

Documents and acts submitted for legalization must be written clearly and expressly, and the amounts and numbers, dates and terms mentioned in the document or act must be indicated in words. Signatures of officials and seal impressions must be clear.

Spaces on documents and acts should be crossed out. Amendments and additions in the text must be indicated before the signature of the persons who certified the document, and repeated in the legalization inscription. These notes and corrections must be made so that everything that is misspelled and then corrected and crossed out can be read in its original form. If amendments and additions are made in the legalization inscription, they are specified and signed only by the official performing the legalization.

2.6. Legalization of documents and acts by consular institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan

To legalize documents and acts, the Consul must have samples of signatures and seals of officials of the consular district authorized to certify documents and acts issued by organizations and institutions of the receiving state.

If individual citizens, organizations and institutions request legalization of documents and acts drawn up on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, but not legalized in the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Consul must send such documents and acts to the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan to determine their authenticity. Upon receiving a positive response, the Consul legalizes such documents and acts in the General order.

If necessary, the Consul can legalize documents and acts intended for operation on the territory of a third state. In order for such a document or act to be valid on the territory of a third state, it must also be legalized at the Consulate of that state located in receiving state of the Consul of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

2.7. Legalization of documents and acts in the Republic of Uzbekistan

The consular and legal Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan legalizes documents and acts originating from foreign organizations and institutions and legalized by foreign diplomatic missions or consular institutions accredited in the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, if there are samples of signatures and seals of these foreign diplomatic missions.

When a document or instrument coming from organizations or agencies of a foreign state, cannot be legalized in accordance to this procedure, Consular and Legal Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan is entitled to put on the document or act a special mark that no objections to the adoption of the official institutions of the Republic of Uzbekistan to consideration of this document were found.

In this case, the recognition of legal force for such documents and acts, according to the totality of the circumstances of the case, lies entirely with the bodies that accept them.

The consular and legal Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan certifies the signature of the responsible employee of the Ministry of justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who in turn certifies the signature of the notary. This procedure for certification of signatures is established for certification of copies of documents of the civil registry offices of the internal sample for presentation abroad, as well as other documents.

3. Affixing an apostille

3.1. Concepts of apostille and apostille affixing (issuing a relevant certificate)

Apostille – a special stamp affixed for use abroad on an official document in accordance with the Convention (the Convention abolishing the requirement to legalize foreign official documents – the Hague, 05.10.1961, hereinafter referred to as the Convention), certifying the authenticity of the signature, the quality of the person who signed the document, and the authenticity of the seal impression or stamp that the document is affixed with.

Apostille affixing (issuing a relevant certificate) is a formal procedure required to verify the authenticity of the signature, the quality of the person who signed the document, and the authenticity of the seal or stamp used to affix the document.

3.2. Legal basis for affixing an apostille

The Convention abolishing the requirement to legalize foreign official documents – the Hague, 05.10.1961, entered into force for the Republic of Uzbekistan on April 15, 2012 in accordance with the relevant law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. ZRU-279 of 04.04.2011;
Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-1566 dated 05.07.2011 “On measures to implement the provisions of the Convention abolishing the requirement to legalize foreign official documents (the Hague, October 5, 1961)”;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 307 dated 17.11.2011 “On approval of the Regulations on the procedure for apostille affixing”;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 134 dated 15.02.2019 ” On approval of administrative regulations for the provision of public services in the field of civil registration bodies and notaries, as well as apostille affixing on official documents”;
Other normative-legal acts.

3.3. Documents that are subject to apostille affixing

An apostille is affixed to official documents to verify the authenticity of the signature, the quality of the person who signed the document, and the authenticity of the seal or stamp that is attached to the document. The signature, seal or stamp affixed to the apostille does not require additional certification.

Apostille is not affixed to:

documents made by embassies or consular offices of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad;
documents directly related to commercial or customs operations;
passport, military ticket.

An apostille may not be required if the laws, regulations or customs in force in the state to which the document is submitted, or an agreement between two or more Contracting States, simplify or exempt the document from legalization.

3.4. The authorities competent to issue the certificate (affix apostille)

According to No. PP-1566 of 05.07.2011 and the Regulation on the procedure for apostille affixing, the bodies authorized to affix an apostille include:

The Ministry of justice of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Department of justice of the regions and the city of Tashkent – on the relevant territory on official documents issued by the bodies and institutions of justice and bodies registering acts of civil status;
The Supreme court of the Republic of Uzbekistan-on official documents issued by the courts;
The Prosecutor General’s office of the Republic of Uzbekistan – on official documents issued by the Prosecutor’s office, investigation and inquiry bodies and carrying out pre-investigation checks;
The state Inspectorate for supervision of the quality of education under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan – on official documents issued by organizations in the field of education and science;
Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan – on all other official documents.

Apostille can also be applied through public service Centers instead of directly contacting the authorized body.

3.5. The procedure of affixing apostille

The apostille affixing procedure includes the following steps:

receiving and registering documents;
establishing that there are no grounds for refusing to affix an apostille, including checking that the signature of the official and the seal of the organization on the official document correspond to the available samples;
affixing an apostille (if there are no grounds for refusing to affix an apostille);
refusal to affix an apostille (when establishing the grounds for refusal to affix an apostille);
issuance of documents.

For apostille affixing, the following documents must be submitted:

application for apostille affixing on an official document (separate forms for individuals and legal entities);
a copy of the applicant’s identity document;
an official document to be used in the territory of a foreign state party to the Convention;
a document confirming payment of the fee for the apostille.

A fee is charged for processing an application for apostille affixing:

according to official documents issued by organizations in the field of education and science – the State Inspectorate for supervision of the quality of education under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the amount of 20 percent of the base calculated value;
according to other documents-to authorized state bodies in the amount of 10 percent of the base calculated value.

If the applicant refuses the submitted application, the amount of the fee paid is not refundable.

In case of refusal to affix an apostille on the grounds provided for in this Regulation, the notification of refusal is sent (delivered) to the applicant in writing, indicating the reasons for the refusal and the period (30 calendar days) during which the applicant, having eliminated these reasons, can submit official documents for reconsideration. There is no fee for reconsideration of the application.

An application submitted after the expiration of the period specified in the notification of refusal is considered to be re-submitted.

Step-by-step scheme for providing public services for apostille affixing (through public service Centers):

Form of apostille impression:

Notarization, legalization and affixing an apostille in Uzbekistan

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