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Hague Service Convention

In its landmark decision handed down in 1988, the US Supreme Court declared that the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Hague Service Convention”) is the mandatory and exclusive means of effecting service of process upon international defendants.  Volkswagen AG v. Schlunk, 486 US 694, 108 S. Ct. 2104, 100 L. Ed. 722 (1988). 

The Hague Convention provides several methods by which litigants may effect service, provided the destination country has not objected to those methods.  These methods include service via the Hague Central Authority, via mail, or via private judicial officer. 

The Hague Central Authority is often an office located within the Ministry of Justice or within a Supreme Court or High Court, the Central Authority receives Hague Service Requests for service of process upon defendants located in its jurisdiction, vets the requests for compliance with the terms of the treaty, and then forwards the requests on to a court having jurisdiction over the defendant.

LLS has been successfully effecting service pursuant to the Hague Service Convention for more than 15 years and can assist you with understanding and navigating the requirements for service upon international defendants. 

Contact Legal Language Services toll free in the United States at 1-800-755-5775 to consult with our staff of attorneys and paralegals on service of process pursuant to the Hague Convention and other international treaties regulating service of process.

Legal Language Services has posted the full text of a number of key Hague Conventions in French and English. To view the conventions, please click on any link in the menu below.

Hague Conventions

 Hague Conventions Frequently Asked Questions

 Statute of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, July 1955

 Convention relating to civil procedure, 1 March 1954 

 Convention on the law applicable to international sales of goods, 15 June 1955

 Convention on the law governing transfer of title in international sales of goods, 15 April 1958

 Convention on the jurisdiction of the selected forum in the case of international sales of goods, 15 April 1958

 Convention relating to the settlement of the conflicts between the law of nationality and the law of domicile, 15 June 1955

 Convention concerning the recognition of the legal personality of foreign companies, associations and institutions, 1 June 1956

 Convention on the law applicable to maintenance obligations towards Children, 24 October 1956

 Convention concerning the recognition and enforcement of decisions relating to maintenance obligations towards children, 15 April 1958

 Convention concerning the powers of authorities and the law applicable in respect of the protection of minors, 5 October 1961

 Convention on the Conflicts of Laws relating to the Form of, Testamentary Dispositions, 5 October 1961

 Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, 5 October 1961

 Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law and Recognition of Decrees Relating to Adoptions, 15 November 1965

 Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, 15 November 1965

 Convention on the Choice of Court, 25 November 1965

 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, 1 February 1971

 Supplementary Protocol to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, 1 February 1971

 Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations, 1 June 1970

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Traffic Accidents, 4 May 1970

 Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, 18 March 1970

 Convention concerning the International Administration of the Estates of Deceased Persons, 2 October 1973

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability, 2 October 1973

 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions relating to Maintenance Obligations, 2 October 1973

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, 2 October 1973

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Matrimonial Property Regimes, 14 March 1978

 Convention on Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages, 14 March 1978

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Agency, 14 March 1978

 Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 25 October 1980

 Convention on International Access to Justice, 25 October 1980

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition, 1 July 1985

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 22 December 1986

 Convention on the Law Applicable to Succession to the Estates of Deceased Persons, 1 August 1989

 Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, 29 May 1993

 Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children, 19 October 1996

 Convention on the International Protection of Adults, 13 January 2000

 Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in respect of Securities held with an Intermediary, 13 December 2002

 
 
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