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## Family Procedure Rules 2010

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# PRACTICE DIRECTION 6B – SERVICE OUT OF THE JURISDICTION This Practice Direction Supplements FPR Part 6, Chapter 4

## Scope of this Practice Direction

### 1.1

This Practice Direction supplements Chapter 4 (service out of the jurisdiction) of Part 6.

(Practice Direction 6A contains relevant provisions supplementing rule 6.43(2) in relation to the method of service on a party in Scotland or Northern Ireland.)

## Service in other Member States of the European Union

### 2.1

Where service is to be effected in another Member of State of the European Union, the Service Regulation applies.

### 2.2

The Service Regulation is Regulation (EC) No. 1393/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents), and repealing Council Regulation (EC) no. 1348/2000, as amended from time to time and as applied by the Agreement made on 19 October 2005 between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil and commercial matters.

### 2.3

The Service Regulation is annexed to this Practice Direction.

(Article 20(1) of the Service Regulation provides that the Regulation prevails over other provisions contained in bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements concluded by the Member of States and in particular Article IV of the protocol to the Brussels Convention of 1968 and the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965)

## Documents to be filed under rule 6.46(2)

### 3.1

A duplicate of –

(a) the application form or other document to be served under rule 6.45(1) or (2);

(b) any documents accompanying the application or other document referred to in paragraph (a); and

(c) any translation required by rule 6.47;

must be provided for each party to be served out of the jurisdiction, together with forms for responding to the application.

### 3.2

Some countries require legalisation of the document to be served and some require a formal letter of request which must be signed by the Senior Master. Any queries on this should be addressed to the Foreign Process Section (Room E02) at the Royal Courts of Justice.

## Service in a Commonwealth State or British Overseas Territory

### 4.1

The judicial authorities of certain Commonwealth States which are not a party to the Hague Convention require service to be in accordance with rule 6.45(1)(b)(i) and not 6.45(3). A list of such countries can be obtained from the Foreign Process Section (Room E02) at the Royal Courts of Justice.

### 4.2

The list of British overseas territories is contained in Schedule 6 to the British Nationality Act 1981. For ease of reference these are –

(a) Anguilla;

(b) Bermuda;

(c) British Antarctic Territory;

(d) British Indian Ocean Territory;

(e) Cayman Islands;

(f) Falkland Islands;

(g) Gibraltar;

(h) Montserrat;

(i) Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands;

(j) St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha;

(k) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;

(l) Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia;

(m) Turks and Caicos Islands;

(n) Virgin Islands.

## Period for responding to an application form

### 5.1

Where rule 6.42 applies, the period within which the respondent must file an acknowledgment of service or an answer to the application is the number of days listed in the Table after service of the application.

### 5.2

Where an application is served out of the jurisdiction any statement as to the period for responding to the claim contained in any of the forms required by the Family Procedure Rules to accompany the application must specify the period prescribed under rule 6.42.

## Service of application notices and orders

### 6.1

The provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 6 (special provisions about service out of the jurisdiction) also apply to service out of the jurisdiction of an application notice or order.

### 6.2

Where an application notice is to be served out of the jurisdiction in accordance with Chapter 4 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.

## Period for responding to an application notice

### 7.1

Where an application notice or order is served out of the jurisdiction, the period for responding is 7 days less than the number of days listed in the Table.

## Further information

### 8.1

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).

Place or country | number of days
--- | ---
Afghanistan | 23
Albania | 25
Algeria | 22
Andorra | 21
Angola | 22
Anguilla | 31
Antigua and Barbuda | 23
Antilles (Netherlands) | 31
Argentina | 22
Armenia | 21
Ascension Island | 31
Australia | 25
Austria | 21
Azerbaijan | 22
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 and Herzegovina | 21
Botswana | 23
Brazil | 22
British Virgin Islands | 31
Brunei | 25
Bulgaria | 23
Burkina Faso | 23
Burma | 23
Burundi | 22
Cambodia | 28
Cameroon | 22
Canada | 22
Canary Islands | 22
Cape Verde | 25
Caroline Islands | 31
Cayman Islands | 31
Central African Republic | 25
Chad | 25
Chile | 22
China | 24
China (Hong Kong) | 31
China (Macau) | 31
China (Taiwan) | 23
China (Tibet) | 34
Christmas Island | 27
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | 41
Colombia | 22
Comoros | 23
Congo (formerly Congo Brazzaville or French Congo) | 25
Congo (Democratic Republic) | 25
Corsica | 21
Costa Rica | 23
Croatia | 21
Cuba | 24
Cyprus | 31
Czech Republic | 21
Denmark | 21
Djibouti | 22
Dominica | 23
Dominican Republic | 23
East Timor | 25
Ecuador | 22
Egypt | 22
El Salvador | 25
Equatorial Guinea | 23
Eritrea | 22
Estonia | 21
Ethiopia | 22
Falkland Islands and Dependencies | 31
Faroe Islands | 31
Fiji | 23
Finland | 24
France | 21
French Guyana | 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 | 21
Guinea | 22
Guinea-Bissau | 22
Guyana | 22
Haiti | 23
Holland (Netherlands) | 21
Honduras | 24
Hungary | 22
Iceland | 22
India | 23
Indonesia | 22
Iran | 22
Iraq | 22
Ireland (Republic of) | 21
Ireland (Northern) | 21
Isle of Man | 21
Israel | 22
Italy | 21
Ivory Coast | 22
Jamaica | 22
Japan | 23
Jersey | 21
Jordan | 23
Kazakhstan | 21
Kenya | 22
Kiribati | 23
Korea (North) | 28
Korea (South) | 24
Kosovo | 21
Kuwait | 22
Kyrgyzstan | 21
Laos | 30
Latvia | 21
Lebanon | 22
Lesotho | 23
Liberia | 22
Libya | 21
Liechtenstein | 21
Lithuania | 21
Luxembourg | 21
Macedonia | 21
Madagascar | 23
Madeira | 31
Malawi | 23
Malaysia | 24
Maldives | 26
Mali | 25
Malta | 21
Mariana Islands | 26
Marshall Islands | 32
Mauritania | 23
Mauritius | 22
Mexico | 23
Micronesia | 23
Moldova | 21
Monaco | 21
Mongolia | 24
Montenegro | 21
Montserrat | 31
Morocco | 22
Mozambique | 23
Namibia | 23
Nauru | 36
Nepal | 23
Netherlands | 21
Nevis | 24
New Caledonia | 31
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
Palau | 23
Panama | 26
Papua New Guinea | 26
Paraguay | 22
Peru | 22
Philippines | 23
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands | 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 and 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
San Marino | 21
Sao Tome and Principe | 25
Sarawak | 28
Saudi Arabia | 24
Scotland | 21
Senegal | 22
Serbia | 21
Seychelles | 22
Sierra Leone | 22
Singapore | 22
Slovakia | 21
Slovenia | 21
Society Islands (French Polynesia) | 31
Solomon Islands | 29
Somalia | 22
South Africa | 22
South Georgia (Falkland Island Dependencies) | 31
South Orkneys | 21
South Shetlands | 21
Spain | 21
Spanish Territories of North Africa | 31
Sri Lanka | 23
Sudan | 22
Surinam | 22
Swaziland | 22
Sweden | 21
Switzerland | 21
Syria | 23
Tajikistan | 21
Tanzania | 22
Thailand | 23
Togo | 22
Tonga | 30
Trinidad and Tobago | 23
Tristan Da Cunha | 31
Tunisia | 22
Turkey | 21
Turkmenistan | 21
Turks & Caicos Islands | 31
Tuvalu | 23
Uganda | 22
Ukraine | 21
United Arab Emirates | 22
United States of America | 22
Uruguay | 22
Uzbekistan | 21
Vanuatu | 29
Vatican City State | 21
Venezuela | 22
Vietnam | 28
Virgin Islands – U.S.A | 24
Wake Island | 25
Western Samoa | 34
Yemen (Republic of) | 30
Zaire | 25
Zambia | 23
Zimbabwe | 22

## Annex Service Regulation (Rule 6.44)

Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 (PDF - opens in new window)

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