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see also Part 6, Practice Direction 6

# Practice Direction – Service out of the Jurisdiction This Practice Direction supplements Part 6, Section 2 of the Family Procedure (Adoption) Rules 2005

## Service in other Member States of the European Union

### 1.1

Where service is to be effected in another Member of State of the European Union, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (‘the Service Regulation’) applies.

### 1.2

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)

Originally published in the official languages of the European Community in the Official Journal of the European Communities by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

## Documents to be filed under rule 46(2)(d)

### 2.1

A duplicate of the application form and of any translation required by rule 43 must be provided for each party to be served out of the jurisdiction.

### 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 legalisation and some require a formal letter of request.

## Service in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Commonwealth countries and United Kingdom Overseas Territories

### 3.1

Where rule 45(3) applies, service should be effected by the applicant 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 44(1)(b)(i). These are presently Malta and Singapore.

### 3.2

For the purposes of rule 45(3)(c), the following countries are United Kingdom Overseas Territories –

(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;

(j) St. Helena and Dependencies;

(k) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;

(l) Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia;

(m) Turks and Caicos Islands; and

(n) Virgin Islands.

## Service of application notices and orders

### 4.1

The provisions of Section 2 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.

### 4.2

Where an application notice is to be served out of the jurisdiction in accordance with Section 2 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

### 5

Where a Part 10 application 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.

### 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 Republic) | 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 North Africa | 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

## Further information

### 6

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).

## Annex

Published by TSO on behalf of the Ministry of Justice

Applications to reproduce the material in this value added publication should be addressed to Office of Public Sector Information, Information Policy Team, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU.

An application can be made via the OPSI website (opens in a new window) or by e-mailing: licensing@opsi.gov.uk

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