An example of an NP-complete problem is the Boolean satisfiability problem: given a Boolean formula, is it satisfiable (is there a possible input for which the formula outputs true)? The complementary problem asks: "given a Boolean formula, is it unsatisfiable (do all possible inputs to the formula output false)?". Since this is the complement of the satisfiability problem, a certificate for a no-instance is the same as for a yes-instance from the original NP problem: a set of Boolean variable assignments which make the formula true. On the other hand, a certificate of a yes-instance for the complementary problem (whatever form it might take) would be equally as complex as for the no-instance of the original NP satisfiability problem.
An example of an NP-complete problem is the Boolean satisfiability problem: given a Boolean formula, is it satisfiable (is there a possible input for which the formula outputs true)? The complementary problem asks: "given a Boolean formula, is it unsatisfiable (do all possible inputs to the formula output false)". Since this is the complement of the satisfiability problem, a certificate for a no-instance is the same as for a yes-instance from the original NP problem: a set of Boolean variable assignments which make the formula true. On the other hand, a certificate of a yes-instance for the complementary problem (whatever form it might take) would be equally as complex as for the no-instance of the original NP satisfiability problem.