After the notary: when your document needs the Judicial Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration

The short answer

You need certification by the Judicial Service and attestation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration when your notarised document is going to be used outside Ghana and the receiving country requires it to be legalised. For a document that will be used in Ghana, you normally do not.

Why a notary's seal is enough at home

Ghanaian law trusts its own officers. Under the Evidence Act, 1975 (NRCD 323), the seal of a notary public or commissioner for oaths in Ghana is presumed to be genuine (section 159), and so is their signature (section 160). A writing that carries a notary's certificate of acknowledgement is presumed to be authentic (section 158).

So for use in Ghana, there is no legal need for the Judicial Service to confirm that your notary is a notary. The law already presumes it.

Why abroad is different

A bank in Berlin or a university in Seoul has no way of knowing whether a Ghanaian notary is real. Many countries solve this with the apostille, a single certificate under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. As at October 2026, Ghana is not a party to that Convention, so documents from Ghana go through a longer chain of certifications, each one confirming the signature before it.

Ghana applies the same logic to documents coming in. Under section 161 of the Evidence Act, a foreign official's signature is presumed genuine only if it carries a certification signed and sealed by a diplomatic agent of Ghana, or of a Commonwealth country, accredited to that country. In Juxon-Smith v KLM Dutch Airlines [2005-2006] SCGLR 438, the Supreme Court put it plainly: "no foreign official document is admissible in evidence without authentication". The High Court applied that decision in Shikari Ltd v The Broad Band Home Ltd (2018) and refused to enforce a foreign arbitral award whose copies had not been authenticated.

What each step actually certifies

1. The notary. Witnesses your signature, oath or declaration, or certifies the copy, and applies the notarial seal.
2. The Judicial Service. Confirms that the notary's signature and seal are genuine. This is the natural place to check, because the Judicial Secretary keeps the Roll of Notaries Public under section 3 of the Notaries Public Act, 1960 (Act 26).
3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. Confirms the Judicial Service's signature and seal. In a 2026 letter, the Ministry explained that its attestation "only goes to verify the genuineness of the seals and signatures affixed by the Judicial Service".
4. The embassy or consulate of the destination country. Legalises the document for use in that country. Ghana's own missions abroad describe the same steps before their attestation; the High Commission in London, for example, lists notarisation, Judicial Service certification and Ministry attestation.

Official certificates: start with the issuer

If your document is an official record, such as a birth, marriage, divorce or death certificate, a school certificate or a driver's licence, expect to need verification from the body that issued it first. In a notice effective 15 November 2020, the Ministry said it would decline to attest such documents unless they had been authenticated by the issuing authority. The notice was issued to address forgery, and it does not distinguish between originals and copies. That makes sense: when a notary certifies a copy, the notary confirms that it matches the original produced, but only the issuer can confirm that the original itself is genuine. The policy has been criticised, but you should plan for it.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration

In a 2025 public notice, the Ministry said that applicants should submit original documents verified by the Judicial Service, with valid ID; that the fee is GH¢200 per document, paid in cash to an official of the Controller and Accountant-General's Department at the Ministry's premises; and that processing takes five working days. It warned the public to avoid unauthorised agents.

Before you start

• Ask the receiving body whether it needs full legalisation or only a notarised document. Some accept the notarial certificate alone.
• Check time limits. Some missions want documents submitted within a set period of issue; the London High Commission, for example, says three months.
• Budget separately. Judicial Service, Ministry and embassy fees are not part of the notarial fee.

This article is general information about the law and practice in Ghana as at October 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice on a particular matter, please consult a lawyer.