Kancelaria notarialna, Dominika Olszewska-Wasylik, notariusz., Katowice

Documents executed by a Notary Public in Poland have a status of a public document and the date of signing give them a legal status of the officially dated documents.Our Office carries out a full scope of notarial acts.We have a good command of English and French, however it is obligatory in some cases, in order to perform notarial acts, the presence of a registered translator ( tłumacz przysięgły) is obligatory.Poland is a signatory of the Hague CONVENTION ABOLISHING THE REQUIREMENT OF LEGALISATION FOR FOREIGN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS (Concluded 5 October 1961) Full information can be found on www.hcch.net The said convention abolished the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalization for foreign public documents. The Convention shall apply to public documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State. The only formality required in order to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which it bears, is a certificate a.k.a. apostille. List of designated authorities who are competent to issue the apostille and the specimen of this document are published on the said above website www.hcch.net Article 1138 KPC gives foreign official documents legal power equal to those of polish ones with no need for further legalization. Documents which do not have a status of a public documents shall be authenticated and legalized by Polish diplomatic or consular office. All executed foreign documents relating to the transfer of a real property ownership in Poland shall be authenticated and legalized by Polish diplomatic or consular office. (Article 1138 KPC)