On 26 May 1997, the European Union member states sign the Convention on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters — an instrument based on Article K.3 of the EU Treaty.

The Convention aimed to replace the slow letters-rogatory circuit with transmitting and receiving agencies in each state. It was ratified only by Spain and never entered into force.

Its substance was taken up by Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000, then by Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 on service of documents, applicable in the EU (with a special regime for Denmark).

For European civil justice, 26 May 1997 marks the attempt to contractualise judicial cooperation before communautarisation through regulations.

The ratification failure showed the limits of intergovernmental conventions in the area of freedom, security and justice and accelerated the path of directly applicable regulations.

The Convention text appears in Council of the EU archives and national treaty databases.

The Service of Documents Convention of 26 May 1997 remains the precursor of the European service-of-documents regulations.

Image: EU institutions; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Service Regulation. Treaty text: Convention on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents (Consilium).