Source
Presentation
Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 of 13 November (hereafter "Regulation") is a regulation of the European Union on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters. This text, in force since 13 November 2008, replaced the first EC Regulation on service of documents, (EC) Regulation 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000. Prior to the adoption of these texts, the service of documents between Member States of the European Union was mainly governed by the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 (
www.hcch.net). This agreement continues to apply to relations with third contracting states.
Service of documents among member States of the European Union is part of the construction of the European judicial area and aims to help the proper functioning of the internal market. The adoption of special rules for the service of documents among member States of the European Union fulfills the goals to have quicker and more secure international service.
The regulation does not apply to criminal law and “to revenue, customs or administrative matters or to liability of the State for actions or omissions in the exercise of state authority (acta iure imperii)”. Its application is also excluded when "the address of the person to be served with the document is not known." In that case, it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the law of the sending State, applicable when the address of the addressee is unknown.
The Regulation therefore applies to the transfer of documents in civil and commercial matters among all 27 Member States of the European Union, including Denmark since an
agreement signed between that country and the European Community:
Austria - Belgium - Bulgaria - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Spain - Estonia - Finland - France – Germany – Greece - Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta – The Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Slovakia - Slovenia - Sweden
The main purpose of this text is to provide methods for the sending of documents abroad directly to the recipient or to the relevant authorities of the receiving State.
The regulation establishes a main mode of transmission (Art. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7) including the intervention of three agencies: the transmitting agency, the receiving agency and the central body.
This text also offers several alternatives
- Transmission by consular or diplomatic channels (Article 12);
- Service by diplomatic or consular channels (Art. 13);
- Service by postal channel (Art. 14);
- And direct service between competent authorities (Art. 15).
The regulation also includes provisions on the translation of documents (Art. 5 and Art.8), the date of service (Art. 9) or the cost of service (Art.11). Forms are provided to accompany the document throughout the course of the proceedings..
Where to find the documents?
The European Commission established the
European Judicial Atlas in civil matters which provides to citizen and practitioner an easy access to important practical information for judicial cooperation in civil matters.
Ce site est disponible dans vingt-deux des vingt-trois langues officielles de l’Union européenne (il manque le danois).
Pour accéder directement aux informations concernant le règlement :
La colonne de gauche donne accès aux informations suivantes :
- Agencies and bodies
The central column gives access to the text of the regulation.
