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
  1. A copy of particulars of claim if not already incorporated in or attached to the claim.

  2. 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.

  3. Forms for responding to the claim;

  4. 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:–
  1. Anguilla;

  2. Bermuda;

  3. British Antarctic Territory;

  4. British Indian Ocean Territory;

  5. Cayman Islands;

  6. Falkland Islands;

  7. Gibraltar;

  8. Montserrat;

  9. Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno;

  10. St. Helena and Dependencies;

  11. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;

  12. Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia;

  13. Turks and Caicos Islands; and

  14. 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:
  1. The Nuclear Installations Act 1965,

  2. The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992,

  3. 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,

  4. The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1994,

  5. The Financial Services Act 1986,

  6. The Banking Act 1987,

  7. Part VI of the Criminal Justice Act 1988,

  8. The Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987,

  9. Part II of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,

  10. 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 –
  1. Rule 6.22 sets out the period for filing an acknowledgement of service or filing or serving an admission;

  2. 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 –
  1. file an acknowledgment of service

  2. file or serve an admission;

  3. file a defence
will be calculated in accordance with paragraphs 7.3 and 7.4 having regard to the Table below.

(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 –
  1. 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

  2. in any other case, the number of days listed in the Table after service of the claim form.
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.
7.4 The period for filing a defence under Part 15 is –
  1. the number of days listed in the Table after service of the particulars of claim, or

  2. 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.
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.

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:–
AustriaItaly
BelgiumLuxembourg
DenmarkNetherlands
FranceNorway
FinlandPortugal
GermanyScotland
GibraltarSpain
GreeceSwitzerland
IcelandSweden
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 7947 6691).

Table

Place or countrynumber of days

Abu Dhabi   22

Afghanistan23

Albania25

Algeria22

Angola22

Anguilla31

Antigua23

Antilles (Netherlands)31

Argentina22

Armenia21

Ascension31

Australia25

Austria21

Azores23

Bahamas22

Bahrain22

Balearic Islands21

Bangladesh23

Barbados23

Belarus21

Belgium21

Belize23

Benin25

Bermuda31

Bhutan28

Bolivia23

Bosnia-Hercegovina21

Botswana23

Brazil22

Brunei25

Bulgaria23

Burkina Faso23

Burma23

Burundi22

Cameroon22

Canada22

Canary Islands22

Cape Verde Islands25

Caroline Islands31

Cayman Islands31

Central African Republic25

Chad25

Chile22

China24

Christmas Island27

Cocos (Keeling) Islands41

Colombia22

Comoros23

Congo (People's Republic)25

Corsica21

Costa Rica23

Croatia21

Cuba24

Cyprus31

Cyrenaica (see Libya)21

Czech Republic21

Denmark21

Djibouti22

Dominica23

Dominican Republic23

Dubai22

Ecuador22

Egypt (Arab Rebublic)22

El Salvador (Republic of)25

Equatorial Guinea23

Estonia21

Ethiopia22

Falkland Islands and Dependencies 31

Faroe Islands31

Fiji23

Finland24

France21

French Guiana31

French Polynesia31

French West Indies31

Gabon25

Gambia22

Georgia21

Germany21

Ghana22

Gibraltar31

Greece21

Greenland31

Grenada24

Guatemala24

Guernsey18

Guyana22

Haiti23

Holland (Netherlands)21

Honduras24

Hong Kong31

Hungary22

Iceland22

India23

Indonesia22

Iran22

Iraq22

Ireland (Republic of)21

Ireland (Northern)21

Isle of Man18

Israel22

Italy21

Ivory Coast22

Jamaica22

Japan23

Jersey18

Jordan23

Kampuchea38

Kazakhstan21

Kenya22

Kirgizstan21

Korea (North)28

Korea (South)24

Kuwait22

Laos30

Latvia21

Lebanon22

Lesotho23

Liberia22

Libya21

Liechtenstein21

Lithuania21

Luxembourg21

Macau31

Macedonia21

Madagascar23

Madeira31

Malawi23

Malaya24

Maldive Islands26

Mali25

Malta21

Mariana Islands26

Marshall Islands32

Mauritania23

Mauritius22

Mexico23

Moldova21

Monaco21

Montserrat31

Morocco22

Mozambique23

Nauru Island36

Nepal23

Netherlands21

Nevis24

New Caledonia31

New Hebrides (now Vanuatu)29

New Zealand26

New Zealand Island Territories50

Nicaragua24

Niger (Republic of)25

Nigeria22

Norfolk Island31

Norway21

Oman (Sultanate of)22

Pakistan23

Panama (Republic of)26

Papua New Guinea26

Paraguay22

Peru22

Philippines23

Pitcairn Island31

Poland21

Portugal21

Portuguese Timor31

Puerto Rico23

Qatar23

Reunion31

Romania22

Russia21

Rwanda23

Sabah23

St. Helena31

St. Kitts—Nevis24

St. Lucia24

St. Pierre and Miquelon31

St. Vincent and the Grenadines24

Samoa (U.S.A. Territory)
(See also Western Samoa)
30

Sarawak28

Saudi Arabia24

Scotland21

Senegal22

Seychelles22

Sharjah24

Sierra Leone22

Singapore22

Slovakia21

Slovenia21

Society Islands (French Polynesia)31

Solomon Islands29

Somali Democratic Republic22

South Africa (Republic of)22

South Georgia (Falkland Island Dependencies)31

South Orkneys21

South Shetlands21

Spain21

Spanish Territories of 31

Sri Lanka23

Sudan22

Suriname22

Swaziland22

Sweden21

Switzerland21

Syria23

Taiwan23

Tajikistan21

Tanzania22

Thailand23

Tibet34

Tobago23

Togo22

Tonga30

Tortola31

Trinidad & Tobago23

Tristan Da Cunha31

Tunisia22

Turkey21

Turkmenistan21

Turks & Caicos Islands31

Uganda22

Ukraine21

United States of America22

Uruguay22

Uzbekistan21

Vanuatu29

Vatican City State21

Venezuela22

Vietnam28

Virgin Islands - British (Tortola)31

Virgin Islands - U.S.A24

Wake Island25

Western Samoa34

Yemen (Republic of)30

Yugoslavia (except for Bosnia-Hercegovina Croatia Macedonia and Slovenia)21

Zaire25

Zambia23

Zimbabwe22


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