In The Hague, on 18 March 1970, under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Hague Evidence Convention) is signed. The official languages are French and English; the depositary is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. It enters into force on 7 October 1972, after three ratifications.

The Convention allows transmission of letters of request (letters rogatory) from one signatory state (where evidence is sought) to another (where evidence is located), without consular or diplomatic channels. Each party designates a “central authority” that receives, reviews and transmits the request to the competent authority (typically a court). Article 9: the executing judicial authority applies its own law as to methods and procedures.

Article 13: documents establishing execution are returned by the same channel; if the request is not executed in whole or in part, the requesting authority is informed immediately with reasons. The Convention also covers pre-trial discovery; states may object under Article 23. Some exclude pre-trial discovery entirely; others admit it conditionally (e.g. Mexico: proceedings commenced, documents reasonably identifiable, clear link to the case).

The earlier 1905 Hague Civil Procedure Convention contained evidence provisions but was ratified by only 22 states. The 1970 text was negotiated in 1967–1968. By 2023 more than 60 states are parties, including HCCH members and non-members (Barbados, Colombia, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Nicaragua, Seychelles).

Among EU states, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001 has largely superseded the Convention. In the United States, 28 U.S.C. § 1782 remains an alternative path. An American Bar Association survey (2003) called the Convention “remarkably successful” in bridging common-law and civil-law approaches.

The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 remains the core multilateral instrument for letters of request in civil and commercial matters.

Image: Peace Palace, The Hague; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Hague Evidence Convention. Treaty text: Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (HCCH).