PRACTICE DIRECTION 6B
SERVICE OUT OF THE JURISDICTION
See also Civil Procedure Rules
THIS PRACTICE DIRECTION SUPPLEMENTS SECTION III OF PART 6
Service out of the jurisdiction where permission of the Court is not required
1.1 The usual form of words of the statement required by Rule 6.19(3) should be:– "I state that the High Court of England and Wales has power under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 to hear this claim and that no proceedings are pending between the parties in Scotland, Northern Ireland or another Convention territory of any contracting state as defined by section 1(3) of the Act".
1.2 However, in proceedings to which Rule 6.19(1)(b)(ii) applies, the statement should be:– "I state that the High Court of England and Wales has power under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, the claim having as its object rights in rem in immovable property or tenancies in immovable property (or otherwise in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of Schedule 1, 3C or 4 to that Act) to which Article 16 of Schedule 1, 3C or 4 to that Act applies, to hear the claim and that no proceedings are pending between the parties in Scotland, Northern Ireland or another Convention territory of any contracting state as defined by Section 1(3) of the Act".
1.3 And in proceedings to which Rule 6.19(1)(b)(iii) applies, the statement should be:– "I state that the High Court of England and Wales has power under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, the defendant being a party to an agreement conferring jurisdiction to which Article 17 of Schedule 1, 3C or 4 to that Act applies, to hear the claim and that no proceedings are pending between the parties in Scotland, Northern Ireland or another Convention territory of any contracting state as defined by Section 1(3) of the Act".
1.4 A claim form appearing to be for service on a defendant under the provisions of Rule 6.19 which does not include a statement in the form of 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3 above will be marked on issue "Not for service out of the jurisdiction". 1.5 Where a claim form is served without particulars of claim, it must be accompanied by a copy of Form N1C (notes for defendants). Service out of the jurisdiction where permission is required
Documents to be filed under Rule 6.26(2)(d)
2.1 A complete set of the following documents must be provided for each party to be served out of the jurisdiction
- A copy of particulars of claim if not already incorporated in or attached to the claim.
- A duplicate of the claim form of the particulars of claim and of any documents accompanying the claim and of any translation required by Rule 6.28.
- Forms for responding to the claim;
- Any translation required under Rule 6.28 and paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2, in duplicate.
2.2 The documents to be served in certain countries require legalisation and the Foreign Process Section (Room E02), Royal Courts of Justice will advise on request. Some countries require legislation and some require a formal letter of request, see Form No. 34 to Table 2 of Practice Direction to Part 4 which must be signed by the Senior Master of the Queen's Bench Division irrespective of the Division of the High Court or any county court in which the order was made. Service in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Commonwealth countries, United Kingdom Overseas Territories and the Republic of Ireland
3.1 The requirements of Section III of Part 6, do not apply to the countries listed in Rule 6.25(4) and service should be effected by the claimant or his agent direct except in the case of a Commonwealth State where the judicial authorities have required service to be in accordance with Rule 6.24(1)(b)(i). These are presently Malta and Singapore. 3.2 For the purposes of Rule 6.25(4)(c), the following countries are United Kingdom Overseas Territories:–
- Anguilla;
- Bermuda;
- British Antarctic Territory;
- British Indian Ocean Territory;
- Cayman Islands;
- Falkland Islands;
- Gibraltar;
- Montserrat;
- Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno;
- St. Helena and Dependencies;
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
- Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia;
- Turks and Caicos Islands; and
- Virgin Islands.
Translations
4.1 Rule 6.28 applies to particulars of claim not included in a claim form as well as to claim forms. 4.2 Where a translation of a claim form is required under Rule 6.28, the claimant must also file a translation of all the forms that will accompany the claim form. (It should be noted that English is not an official language in the Province of Quebec).
Service with the permission of the Court under certain Acts
5.1 Rule 6.20(18) provides that a claim form may be served out of the jurisdiction with the Court's permission if the claim is made under an enactment specified in the relevant Practice Direction. 5.2 These enactments are:
- The Nuclear Installations Act 1965,
- The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992,
- The Directive of the Council of the European Communities dated 15 March 1976 No. 76/308/EEC, where service is to be effected in a member state of the European Union,
- The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1994,
- The Financial Services Act 1986,
- The Banking Act 1987,
- Part VI of the Criminal Justice Act 1988,
- The Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987,
- Part II of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,
- Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971.
5.3 Under the State Immunity Act 1978, the foreign state being served is allowed an additional two months over the normal period for filing an acknowledgment of service or defence or for filing or serving an admission allowed under paragraphs 7.3 and 7.4. Service of petitions, application notices and orders
6.1 The provisions of Section III of Part 6 (special provisions about service out of the jurisdiction) apply to service out of the jurisdiction of a petition, application notice or order. (Rule 6.30(1) contains special provisions relating to application notices).
6.2 Where an application notice is to be served out of the jurisdiction in accordance with Section III of Part 6 the Court must have regard to the country in which the application notice is to be served in setting the date for the hearing of the application and giving any direction about service of the respondent's evidence. 6.3 Where the permission of the Court is required for a claim form to be served out of the jurisdiction the permission of the Court, unless rule 6.30(3) applies, must also be obtained for service out of the jurisdiction of any other document to be served in the proceedings and the provisions of this Practice Direction will, so far as applicable to that other document, apply. 6.4 When particulars of claim are served out of the jurisdiction any statement as to the period for responding to the claim contained in any of the forms required by Rule 7.8 to accompany the particulars of claim must specify the period prescribed under Rule 6.22 or 6.23 or (as the case may be) by the order permitting service out of the jurisdiction (see Rule 6.21(4)). Period for responding to a claim form
7.1 Where a claim form has been served out of the jurisdiction without permission under Rule 6.19 –
- Rule 6.22 sets out the period for filing an acknowledgement of service or filing or serving an admission;
- Rule 6.23 sets out the period for filing a defence.
7.2 Where an order grants permission to serve a claim form out of the jurisdiction, the periods within which the defendant may – will be calculated in accordance with paragraphs 7.3 and 7.4 having regard to the Table below.
- file an acknowledgment of service
- file or serve an admission;
- file a defence
(Rule 6.21(4) requires an order giving permission for a claim form to be served out of the jurisdiction to specify the period within which the defendant may respond to the claim form).
7.3 The period for filing an acknowledgment of service under Part 10 or filing or serving an admission under Part 14 is – For example: where a defendant has been served with a claim form (accompanied by particulars of claim) in the Bahamas, the period for acknowledging service or admitting the claim is 22 days after service.
- where the defendant is served with a claim form which states that particulars of claim are to follow, the number of days listed in the Table after service of the particulars of claim; and
- in any other case, the number of days listed in the Table after service of the claim form.
7.4 The period for filing a defence under Part 15 is – For example, where a defendant has been served with particulars of claim in Gibraltar and has acknowledged service, the period for filing a defence is 45 days after service of the particulars of claim.
- the number of days listed in the Table after service of the particulars of claim, or
- where the defendant has filed an acknowledgment of service, the number of days listed in the Table plus an additional 14 days after the service of the particulars of claim.
Period for responding to an application notice
8.1 Where an application notice or order needs to be served out of the jurisdiction, the period for responding to service is 7 days less than the number of days listed in the Table. Civil Jurisdiction and Judgment Act 1982
9.1 The following countries are parties to this Act:–
Austria Italy Belgium Luxembourg Denmark Netherlands France Norway Finland Portugal Germany Scotland Gibraltar Spain Greece Switzerland Iceland Sweden Ireland Address for service & further information
10.1 A defendant is required by Rule 6.5(2) to give an address for service within the jurisdiction. 10.2 Further information concerning service out of the jurisdiction can be obtained from the Foreign Process Section, Room E02, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL (telephone 020 7936 6691).
Table Place or country number of days Abu Dhabi 22 Afghanistan 23 Albania 25 Algeria 22 Angola 22 Anguilla 31 Antigua 23 Antilles (Netherlands) 31 Argentina 22 Armenia 21 Ascension 31 Australia 25 Austria 21 Azores 23 Bahamas 22 Bahrain 22 Balearic Islands 21 Bangladesh 23 Barbados 23 Belarus 21 Belgium 21 Belize 23 Benin 25 Bermuda 31 Bhutan 28 Bolivia 23 Bosnia-Hercegovina 21 Botswana 23 Brazil 22 Brunei 25 Bulgaria 23 Burkina Faso 23 Burma 23 Burundi 22 Cameroon 22 Canada 22 Canary Islands 22 Cape Verde Islands 25 Caroline Islands 31 Cayman Islands 31 Central African Republic 25 Chad 25 Chile 22 China 24 Christmas Island 27 Cocos (Keeling) Islands 41 Colombia 22 Comoros 23 Congo (People's Republic) 25 Corsica 21 Costa Rica 23 Croatia 21 Cuba 24 Cyprus 31 Cyrenaica (see Libya) 21 Czech Republic 21 Denmark 21 Djibouti 22 Dominica 23 Dominican Republic 23 Dubai 22 Ecuador 22 Egypt (Arab Rebublic) 22 El Salvador (Republic of) 25 Equatorial Guinea 23 Estonia 21 Ethiopia 22 Falkland Islands and Dependencies 31 Faroe Islands 31 Fiji 23 Finland 24 France 21 French Guiana 31 French Polynesia 31 French West Indies 31 Gabon 25 Gambia 22 Georgia 21 Germany 21 Ghana 22 Gibraltar 31 Greece 21 Greenland 31 Grenada 24 Guatemala 24 Guernsey 18 Guyana 22 Haiti 23 Holland (Netherlands) 21 Honduras 24 Hong Kong 31 Hungary 22 Iceland 22 India 23 Indonesia 22 Iran 22 Iraq 22 Ireland (Republic of) 21 Ireland (Northern) 21 Isle of Man 18 Israel 22 Italy 21 Ivory Coast 22 Jamaica 22 Japan 23 Jersey 18 Jordan 23 Kampuchea 38 Kazakhstan 21 Kenya 22 Kirgizstan 21 Korea (North) 28 Korea (South) 24 Kuwait 22 Laos 30 Latvia 21 Lebanon 22 Lesotho 23 Liberia 22 Libya 21 Liechtenstein 21 Lithuania 21 Luxembourg 21 Macau 31 Macedonia 21 Madagascar 23 Madeira 31 Malawi 23 Malaya 24 Maldive Islands 26 Mali 25 Malta 21 Mariana Islands 26 Marshall Islands 32 Mauritania 23 Mauritius 22 Mexico 23 Moldova 21 Monaco 21 Montserrat 31 Morocco 22 Mozambique 23 Nauru Island 36 Nepal 23 Netherlands 21 Nevis 24 New Caledonia 31 New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) 29 New Zealand 26 New Zealand Island Territories 50 Nicaragua 24 Niger (Republic of) 25 Nigeria 22 Norfolk Island 31 Norway 21 Oman (Sultanate of) 22 Pakistan 23 Panama (Republic of) 26 Papua New Guinea 26 Paraguay 22 Peru 22 Philippines 23 Pitcairn Island 31 Poland 21 Portugal 21 Portuguese Timor 31 Puerto Rico 23 Qatar 23 Reunion 31 Romania 22 Russia 21 Rwanda 23 Sabah 23 St. Helena 31 St. Kitts—Nevis 24 St. Lucia 24 St. Pierre and Miquelon 31 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 24 Samoa (U.S.A. Territory)
(See also Western Samoa)30 Sarawak 28 Saudi Arabia 24 Scotland 21 Senegal 22 Seychelles 22 Sharjah 24 Sierra Leone 22 Singapore 22 Slovakia 21 Slovenia 21 Society Islands (French Polynesia) 31 Solomon Islands 29 Somali Democratic Republic 22 South Africa (Republic of) 22 South Georgia (Falkland Island Dependencies) 31 South Orkneys 21 South Shetlands 21 Spain 21 Spanish Territories of 31 Sri Lanka 23 Sudan 22 Suriname 22 Swaziland 22 Sweden 21 Switzerland 21 Syria 23 Taiwan 23 Tajikistan 21 Tanzania 22 Thailand 23 Tibet 34 Tobago 23 Togo 22 Tonga 30 Tortola 31 Trinidad & Tobago 23 Tristan Da Cunha 31 Tunisia 22 Turkey 21 Turkmenistan 21 Turks & Caicos Islands 31 Uganda 22 Ukraine 21 United States of America 22 Uruguay 22 Uzbekistan 21 Vanuatu 29 Vatican City State 21 Venezuela 22 Vietnam 28 Virgin Islands - British (Tortola) 31 Virgin Islands - U.S.A 24 Wake Island 25 Western Samoa 34 Yemen (Republic of) 30 Yugoslavia (except for Bosnia-Hercegovina Croatia Macedonia and Slovenia) 21 Zaire 25 Zambia 23 Zimbabwe 22
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