Hague Evidence Convention and Evidence Requests

WHAT TYPES OF EVIDENCE CAN BE REQUESTED UNDER THE HAGUE EVIDENCE CONVENTION?

The Hague Service Convention expressly covers documentary and testimonial evidence, but physical evidence can be trickier to obtain. In all scenarios, the wording of the request is extremely important in order to obtain the required end result.

In many countries, if you are requesting a deposition, the foreign court will be involved and in some instances will either preside over the deposition or ask the questions themselves. Sometimes there is a need to request to attend the deposition. If the language spoken during the deposition is one other than English, it is up to the requestor to provide their own translator.

DOES THE REQUEST NEED TO BE TRANSLATED?

Whether or not documents need to be translated is a very nuanced decision that depends on the rules of the receiving country, the language the recipient understands and the rules of the sending country. Proper translations are critical to ensuring a fair and thorough review from the receiving country. If the translation is incorrect or not sufficient, the entire request will be rejected.

Oftentimes documents do require translation, but our team can let you know depending on the case details.

WHAT COUNTRIES ACCEPT EVIDENCE REQUESTS?

More than 60 countries are signatories to the Hague Evidence Convention, including:

• Serbia
  
• Seychelles
  
• Singapore
  
• Slovakia
  
• Slovenia
  
• South Africa
  
• Spain
  
• Sri Lanka
  
• Sweden
  
• Switzerland
  
• Turkey
  
• Ukraine
  
• United Kingdom of Great
• Britain and Northern Ireland
  
• United States of America
  
• Venezuela

For those seeking to obtain evidence from another country, it’s not as easy as sending a subpoena. Even if the country is a signatory to the Hague Service Convention, evidence requests are bound by a different part of the larger treaty – the Hague Evidence Convention.

Because there is little way to establish jurisdiction when it comes to these types of inquiries, they are considered requests rather than formal subpoenas the originating country is required to comply with. In essence, you are asking the foreign government to assist with your request and it is up to them to determine whether or not to help.

Called Hague Evidence requests, these documents must be carefully worded and contain sufficient supporting information as to why the evidence is needed in order for the government of that country to feel there is adequate reason to comply.

The process of conducting these requests is similar to that of a Letters Rogatory. For a majority of the time the foreign court is required to carry out the request under the Hague Evidence Convention unless it falls under a formal reservation entered by the country. One of the most common reservations many countries have entered is under Article 23, stating that letters of request for pretrial discovery will not be executed.

WHAT TYPES OF EVIDENCE CAN BE REQUESTED UNDER THE HAGUE EVIDENCE CONVENTION?

The Hague Service Convention expressly covers documentary and testimonial evidence, but physical evidence can be trickier to obtain. In all scenarios, the wording of the request is extremely important in order to obtain the required end result.

In many countries, if you are requesting a deposition, the foreign court will be involved and in some instances will either preside over the deposition or ask the questions themselves. Sometimes there is a need to request to attend the deposition. If the language spoken during the deposition is one other than English, it is up to the requestor to provide their own translator.

DOES THE REQUEST NEED TO BE TRANSLATED?

Whether or not documents need to be translated is a very nuanced decision that depends on the rules of the receiving country, the language the recipient understands and the rules of the sending country. Proper translations are critical to ensuring a fair and thorough review from the receiving country. If the translation is incorrect or not sufficient, the entire request will be rejected.

Oftentimes documents do require translation, but our team can let you know depending on the case details.

WHAT COUNTRIES ACCEPT EVIDENCE REQUESTS?

More than 60 countries are signatories to the Hague Evidence Convention, including:

• Serbia
  
• Seychelles
  
• Singapore
  
• Slovakia
  
• Slovenia
  
• South Africa
  
• Spain
  
• Sri Lanka
  
• Sweden
  
• Switzerland
  
• Turkey
  
• Ukraine
  
• United Kingdom of Great
• Britain and Northern Ireland
  
• United States of America
  
• Venezuela