discussion “international cooperation: service of documents, taking of evidence” – practical...

Discussion “International Cooperation: Service of Documents, Taking of Evidence” –

Practical Implementation of Regulations No 1393/2007 and No 1206/2001

Dr.iur. Zane PētersoneJudge at the Department of Civil Cases of the Supreme

Court of the Republic of Latvia

Jūrmala 11.06.2015.

This presentation is Co-funded by the Civil Justice Programme of the European Union Project JUST/2013/JCIV/AG/4691 „The Court of Justice of the European Union and its case law in the area of civil justice”.

Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 of 13 November 2007

on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents

in civil or commercial matters (service of documents)

© Zane Pētersone, 2015 2

Sources• Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents), and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32007R1393:EN:HTML

• Chapter 81 of Latvian Civil Procedure Law “International cooperation regarding civil procedure on the service of documents in accordance with Regulation No 1393/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council” (Articles 656-665)

3© Zane Pētersone, 2015

• Regulation on the organization of record-keeping in district (city) courts and regional courts

• Manual on the practical implemenation of the Regulation No 1393/2007 by the Ministry of Justice (sent electronically to all courts)

• European Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/judicialatlascivil/html/index_en.htm

• European e-Justice Portal https://e-justice.europa.eu/home.do

• Manual containing the information relating to the receiving agencies (in Atlas)


• For other states: in accordance with agreements, mainly the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on

the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters


• Objectives of the Regulation- the free movement of persons- the proper functioning of the internal market- direct and rapid means for transmission

• The scope of application of the Regulation• The countries covered by the Regulation


Transmitting and receiving agencies• Functions, tasks and documents of the transmitting

agency• Functions, tasks and documents of the receiving

agency

• In Latvia – receiving agencies: district (city) courts• Where to look for the transmitting and receiving

agencies of other Member States

• Central body – the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia

(Carried out in practice by the Department of Judicial Cooperation)


Service of Latvian documents

• New from 2015 – the courts have to cope themselves, without the help from the Ministry of Justice (the former transmitting agency).

• Request for service of documents (the standard form)

• Other documents to be enclosed


• Language - of the request- of the enclosed documents

• Translation

• Number of copies

• The date of service of the document

• Time limits


Time limits in practice(Information by the Ministry of Justice)

Time necessary for service of Latvian documents:Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Sweden –

3-4 monthsIreland, the United Kingdom – 3-5 monthsPoland – 3-6 monthsPortugal – 4-6 monthsFrance – 5-8 monthsItaly, Spain – 6-8 months

Time necessary for translation:at least 1 month, without reference to the number of

pages© Zane Pētersone, 2015 10

Service of foreign documents in Latvia• Executed by the district (city) court in accordance

with the place (address) of the addressee indicated in the request for service of documents, or the declared place of residence of the addressee, or the place of location (legal address) of the addressee (Article 661(1) of Civil Procedure Law)

• The request is executed in accordance with Article 56 of Civil Procedure Law on service of summons and other judicial documents

(Article 661(6) of Civil Procedure Law)



• The standard form “Certificate of service or non-service of documents”

• Language • The date of service of the document• Time limits

• All necessary steps should be taken to effect the service of the document

Refusal to accept a document by an addressee

• Reason: language• Lime limits for refusal• The duty of the court to inform the addressee • Annex II of the Regulation – the standard form

“Information to the addressee about the right to refuse to accept a document”

(Article 8(1) of the Regulation)

• Possibility of the service of the document to be remedied


The consequences if the defendant fails to appear

• In the case the documents have been served• In the case the documents have not been served

* Preliminary measures (Article 19(3) of the Regulation)

* Renewal of the expired time for appeal of the judgment

(Articles 19(4) and 19(5) of the Regulation)


• Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 10 March 2012 in case C-292/10 G. v. Cornelius de Visser:

“European Union law must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude the issue of judgment by default against a defendant on whom, given that it is impossible to locate him, the document instituting proceedings has been served by public notice under national law, provided that the court seised of the matter has first satisfied itself that all investigations required by the principles of diligence and good faith have been undertaken to trace the defendant.”


Statistics(Information by the Ministry of Justice)

2010Requests from Latvian courts – 862Requests from foreign courts – 365






Typical mistakesThe Courts should consider that:• The correct receiving agency should be indicated in

the standard form “Request for service of documents”

• Transmitting agency, receiving agency, applicant and addressee should not be mixed up in the standard form “Request for service of documents”

• The lime limits necessary for translation and service should be taken into consideration

• Each document should be signed by the judge and stamped by the stamp of the court

• No sanctions regarding failure to appear may be indicated in the writ of summons


Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001

on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence

in civil or commercial matters (taking of evidence)


Sources

• Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32001R1206&from=en

• Chapter 84 of Latvian Civil Procedure Law “International Civil Procedural Co-operation in the Taking of Evidence in Accordance with Council Regulation No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on Cooperation between the Courts of the Member States in the Taking of Evidence in Civil or Commercial Matters” (Articles 684-694)


• European Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters• European e-Justice Portal • Practice guide for the application of the Regulation

on the Taking of Evidence (Manual in e-justice portal)______________

• For other states: in accordance with agreements, mainly the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the

Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters


• Objectives of the Regulation

• The countries covered by the Regulation

• The scope of application of the Regulation- Not only the taking of evidence, but also the

ensuring of evidence- Only for evidence which are intended for use in

judicial proceedings


• Competent authorities – the courts of Member States

- Direct communication between the courts

• Central body – Ministry of Justice in Latvia- For help: supplying information; seeking solutions; forwarding,

in exceptional cases, requests


• Two methods:1) the court of one Member State requests the

competent court of another Member State to take evidence

2) the court of one Member State requests to take evidence directly in another Member State


Request for the taking of evidence• Form of the request- forms - in writing- signed by a judge and approved by the seal of a court• Content of the request• Language- of the request- of the enclosed documents • Transmission of requests and other communications• Costs


Execution of the request

• Time limit – 90 days from receipt• In accordance with the law of the requested Member

State, but the requesting court may call for the execution in accordance with a special procedure provided for by the law of its Member State

• Use of communications technology- videoconferences- teleconferences• Execution (performance) with the presence and

participation of the parties


Statistics(Information by the Ministry of Justice)





