Document legalisation (a new approach to the document legalisation process using enterprise network technology)

Hasan, Mohammed Jaffer (2012) Document legalisation (a new approach to the document legalisation process using enterprise network technology). DProf thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis]

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Abstract

Documents issued in one country often have to be legalised (authenticated)before they can be used in another country. Different types of documents (legal papers) such as birth, death and marriage records, deeds of assignments, powers of
attorney, commercial invoices etc. need to be legalised by the Destination Country before they can be assumed legal. Legalising a document simply means confirming that official documents are sealed and signed either with an Apostille Certificate for countries that are part of the Hague convention 1961, or with a Certificate of Authentication where countries are not party to The Hague Convention. Legalising (authenticating) documents is a process of verification of signatures.
The aim of this research is to critically examine the current processes of document legalisation, through analysing and establishing the opportunities that lie
before the organisation to implement a new process in document legalisation to replace the prolonged historical process currently used in some countries, specifically the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using enterprise network
technology1, this research will also produce a solution to the risks involved, the implementation and the security, and it will also analyse the impact of such implementation to the organisation.
Considering the project, which explores a very sensitive area in the organisation and one of major change to the organisation’s business process, the authenticity of data must be given a high priority. Therefore, an online survey may not always be a legitimate approach. A paper survey may well fit the purpose but, on the other hand, a detailed interview and/ or telephone survey will be even more accurate. Hence I made use of a mixed method (qualitative/ quantitative) approach.
The business of document legalisation goes back in history by more than two thousand years and, therefore, needs to be explored historically, establishing how the business of the document legalisation process has evolved alongside the
established professions in government today, and defining the areas of concern such as security, availability, traceability and mobility. This will pave the way for
an investigation to evaluate a new process that can utilise available technology to solve the areas of concern.
The current process of Document Legalisation has been used for many years and a change in this process may take some time. There are many possible pitfalls that the programme may encounter, one of which is the change to a process that has not yet been established in any other area of the world, so there are no other occurrences in this subject for comparison. A clear and informative document explaining the project – a Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Limit (SMART) description of the project – will solve any conflict.

Considering that the research in th is complex topic runs in history for more than two thousand years, a mixed method approach should be used. However, to elaborate the methodology that can explore the underlying philosophical
assumption taken by researchers a mixed methodology term should be more accurate, due to the history and composition of knowledge that have been accumulated in this topic. Hence clarification is needed to establish reasons and define a new approach in the document legalisation process.
In addition to the historical literature, the main groups taken into consideration to form the data are the decision makers, interviews with senior staff and a survey for employees working in the field of document legalisation. To find reasons for every step in document legalisation, experiments should not be ignored. The reason for this is to clarify the area of data mismatch.
The scope of the project will discuss the current risk involved in the current process of legalising documents, identifying its weaknesses, and the needs and requirements of the newly proposed process with recommendations to establish a solution utilising state of the art technology to provide a new secure, mobile and traceable process which is available 24/7.

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