Practice Direction – Service out of the JurisdictionThis 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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
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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).

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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.