Opinion ID: 1835389
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Selco's Appeal

Text: Selco contends that Webb failed to perfect proper service on it. Selco is an Italian company that produces saws, and Italy is a member of the Hague Convention. Service of process on corporations of foreign countries that are members of the Hague Convention, such as Selco, must be perfected according to the terms of the Hague Convention Treaty. [2] [A] convention, such as the Hague Convention, `has the status of a treaty and consequently is the supreme law of the land.' Ex parte Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft, 443 So.2d 880, 882 (Ala.1983), quoting American Trust Co. v. Smyth, 247 F.2d 149, 153 (9th Cir.1957). If service of process is not perfected according to the terms of the Hague Convention, the service is void. Article VI of the United States Constitution provides that the States are bound by treaties entered into by the United States. Therefore, service must be perfected according to the terms of the Hague Convention, even though [Ala.R.Civ.P.] 4.4(b) provides several methods of serving process in foreign countries, including service directly on the defendant by certified mail or its equivalent. [Rule] 4.4(b)(1). Rivers v. Stihl, Inc., 434 So.2d 766, 769 (Ala. 1983) (holding that service was not perfected on the defendant German corporation because the plaintiff had failed to strictly comply with the service-of-process requirements of the Hague Convention). [3] The Hague Convention provides that each state is to designate a central authority to receive requests of service of documents. (Article 2.) Requests for service (which must conform to a model annexed to the Convention) should be sent, along with the documents in question, by the judicial officer of the state in which the documents originate to the designated central authority of the country in which the recipient is located. (Article 3.) When it receives a request, the central authority is to arrange service according to its internal laws. (Article 5.) Once service is perfected, the central authority must forward a certificate to that effect to the applicant. (Article 6.) If the request is insufficient for some reason, the central authority returns it and the unserved documents, along with a statement of its objections, to the applicant. (Article 4.) Rivers v. Stihl, 434 So.2d at 769. Webb's attempts to serve the summons and complaint on Selco did not follow the procedures outlined in the Hague Convention; therefore, service was not perfected. Rivers, at 770. When service is not proper, a judgment based on that service is void and must be set aside. See, e.g., Ex parte Pate, 673 So.2d 427 (Ala.1995). Because service of process on Selco was not perfected, the default judgment against Selco is void. The trial court erred in failing to set aside that judgment.