OUTLINEHCCH 1965 SERVICE CONVENTION

Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial
and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
Service is an essential part of any legal proceeding, but one that can be costly and time-consuming incross-border cases. The Service Convention seeks to simplify this process, establishing a uniform
framework designed to facilitate and streamline the channels of transmission for judicial or extrajudicial
documents to be served abroad.
The Convention provides for one main channel of transmission between Contracting Parties, while
preserving flexibility to use alternative channels. The Convention deals primarily with the transmission ofdocuments; it does not address or comprise substantive rules relating to the actual service of process.
There are, however, two channels of transmission provided for by the Convention where the transmission
process includes service of process upon the ultimate addressee: the direct diplomatic or consularchannels and the postal channel. For all other channels of transmission under the Convention anadditional step, not governed by the Convention, is required to complete service on the ultimateaddressee.

Principal features of the ConventionScope of the Convention
The Convention applies where: (i) a judicial or extrajudicial document is (ii) to be transmitted for service
from one Contracting Party to another, (iii) the address of the person to be served is known, and (iv) thedocument to be served relates to a civil or commercial matter (Art. 1). The Convention is exclusive, whichmeans, if these requirements are met, the transmission channels provided for under the Convention must
be applied. In relation to the requirement of transmission to another Contracting Party, it is important tonote that it remains for the law of the forum to determine whether transmission abroad is necessary.
Main channel of transmission
The main channel of transmission under the Convention is where an authority or judicial officer competentin one Contracting Party transmits a request for service to the Central Authority of the Contracting Party
in which service is to be effected (Art. 5). The request must conform to the Model Form annexed to theConvention.
The Central Authority of the requested Contracting Party shall, under its own law, serve the document orarrange for its service by a competent authority (Art. 5). However, the applicant (i.e. the forwarding
authority in the requesting Contracting Party) may request that a particular method or procedure be used,
to the extent that it is not incompatible with the law of the requested Contracting Party.
Finally, the authority executing the request must complete the certificate as annexed to the Convention,
stating that service was effected, or if not, the reasons that prevented service (Art. 6).

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Alternative channels of transmission
The Convention preserves the freedom of Contracting Parties to use alternative channels of transmission,
including through:diplomatic or consular channels (Arts 8 and 9);
postal channels (Art. 10(a));
direct communication between judicial officers, officials or other competent persons(Art. 10(b)); anddirect communication between an interested party and judicial officers, officials or othercompetent persons (Art. 10(c)).

There is no hierarchy of the channels of transmission, and transmission through one of the alternative
channels does not lead to service of lesser quality. A Contracting Party may object to the use of thesealternative channels (Art. 10). This information is available on the status table on the Service Section ofthe HCCH website.
Protection of the defendant
Regardless of the channel of transmission used, the Convention protects defendants from a default
judgment. A default judgment shall not be given unless it is established that service was effective under
the Convention (Art. 15). If judgment has already been given, a defendant may apply for relief (Art. 16).

Role of authorities
The Convention provides for a system of Central Authorities in all Contracting Parties. A Central Authority’s
main role is to receive requests for service of documents, either serving the documents or arranging forthem to be served. The Convention also provides for the designation of additional authorities and leaves
Contracting Parties free to determine the extent of their competence.

The use of technology
The technology-neutral language of the Convention allows Contracting Parties to use modern technology
in the transmission and execution of requests. In practice, this is generally subject to the law of therequested Contracting Party.

Additional resources
The Service Section of the HCCH website contains the latest information about the Service Convention.
This includes:Text of the Convention
Status table of Contracting Parties
List of Central Authorities and practical information by Contracting Party
Explanatory Report on the Service Convention
Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Service Convention
Mandatory Model Form for Requests

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