No, the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention does not contain a rule requiring documents from the UK (or any member country) to be notarised before an apostille can be applied.
The Convention focuses on simplifying the authentication process for ‘public documents’ used in other member countries.
It defines what constitutes a public document (a topic detailed in FAQ: What counts as a “public document?) and establishes the apostille certificate as the method for verifying the origin of such documents – specifically, the authenticity of the signature, the capacity of the person signing, and the identity of any seal or stamp on the document.
Essentially, the Convention sets the standard for the apostille certificate itself and requires member countries to accept valid apostilles issued by other members on qualifying public documents.
It does not, however, dictate the internal procedures or prerequisites (like mandatory notarisation) that a specific country must implement to determine if a document qualifies as ‘public’ or how it verifies the necessary signatures before issuing its own apostilles.
Those procedural details are left to each member state’s domestic law and the rules of their designated Competent Authority (the FCDO in the UK).
Therefore, while notarisation is often a practical step in the UK process for many document types (as explained in our FAQ, Can a document be apostilled without being notarised?), It’s not a requirement imposed directly by the Hague Convention treaty itself.
Knowing this helps clarify that the need for notarisation stems from UK procedures to ensure documents meet the ‘public document’ criteria for the FCDO before an express apostille can be issued under the Convention’s framework.
