On 15 November 1965, at The Hague, the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters was concluded. A single original in English and French, both texts equally authentic, deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands. It is not the Convention on Civil Procedure of 1 March 1954 and not the Hague Evidence Convention of 1970. Article 26: open for signature by the States represented at the Tenth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law; instruments of ratification are deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Article 1: the Convention applies in civil or commercial matters where a judicial or extrajudicial document is to be transmitted for service abroad; it does not apply where the address of the person to be served is not known. Article 2: each Contracting State designates a Central Authority to receive requests from other Contracting States and to proceed in conformity with Articles 3 to 6, organised in conformity with its own law. Article 3: the authority or judicial officer competent under the law of the State of origin forwards to the Central Authority of the State addressed a request conforming to the model annexed, without legalisation or other equivalent formality; the document and the request in duplicate. Article 4: if the request does not comply with the Convention, the Central Authority shall promptly inform the applicant and specify its objections.

Article 5: the Central Authority shall itself serve the document or arrange service, either by a method prescribed by its internal law for domestic actions, or by a particular method requested by the applicant unless incompatible with the law of the State addressed; voluntary delivery to an addressee who accepts remains possible; a translation into an official language may be required; the summary in the annexed form shall be served with the document. Article 6: a certificate in the model form, stating the method, place, date and person; forwarded directly to the applicant. Article 7: the standard terms in the models shall be written in French or in English. Article 8: service through diplomatic or consular agents, without compulsion; a State may oppose such service unless the document is to be served upon a national of the State of origin. Article 9: consular channels to designated authorities; in exceptional circumstances, diplomatic channels.

Article 10: provided the State of destination does not object, the Convention shall not interfere with sending judicial documents by postal channels, direct service through judicial officers of the State of destination, or service by any person interested in a proceeding through those officers. Article 11: two or more States may agree other channels, in particular direct communication between their authorities. Article 12: service shall not give rise to payment of taxes or costs for the services of the State addressed; the applicant shall pay costs of a judicial officer or of a particular method. Article 13: refusal only if compliance would infringe sovereignty or security; it may not refuse solely because internal law claims exclusive jurisdiction or would not permit the action. Article 14: difficulties shall be settled through diplomatic channels.

Article 15: where the defendant has not appeared, judgment shall not be given until it is established that the document was served by a method prescribed by the internal law of the State addressed or actually delivered, in sufficient time to defend; a State may declare that the judge may give judgment if at least six months have elapsed since transmission, no certificate has been received, and every reasonable effort has been made; provisional or protective measures remain possible. Article 16: the judge may relieve the defendant from the expiration of the time for appeal if, without fault, the defendant did not have knowledge of the document or of the judgment in sufficient time, and has disclosed a prima facie defence on the merits; application within a reasonable time; a State may fix a period which shall in no case be less than one year from the judgment; this Article shall not apply to judgments concerning status or capacity of persons. Article 17: extrajudicial documents may be transmitted by the same methods.

Article 22: as between Parties to the 1905 or 1954 Conventions on civil procedure, this Convention replaces Articles 1 to 7 of those earlier Conventions. Article 25: without prejudice to Articles 22 and 24, it shall not derogate from other Conventions on the same matters. Article 27: entry into force on the sixtieth day after the third instrument of ratification. UNTS 658 I-9432: 10 February 1969, after the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Republic. Article 28: accession after entry into force, subject to objection within six months by a State which had already ratified. Article 30: five years, then tacit renewal; denunciation at least six months before the end of the period. It is not the European Union service regulation and not the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention.

Image: Peace Palace, The Hague, seat of the Conference; Steven Lek, 26 June 2018; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Hague Service Convention. Treaty text: Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, The Hague, 15 November 1965 (UNTS 658 I-9432).