Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast)

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Scope

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘forum Member State’ means the Member State in which the judicial proceedings take place;

(2) ‘decentralised IT system’ means a network of national IT systems and interoperable access points, operating under the individual responsibility and management of each Member State, that enables the secure and reliable cross-border exchange of information between the national IT systems.

Article 3

Transmitting and receiving agencies

Each Member State shall provide the Commission with the following information:

(a) the names and addresses of the receiving agencies referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3;

(b) the geographical areas in which those receiving agencies have jurisdiction;

(c) the means by which those receiving agencies are able to receive documents where Article 5(4) applies; and

(d) the languages that may be used for the completion of the forms set out in Annex I.

Member States shall notify the Commission of any subsequent modification of the information referred to in the first subparagraph.

Article 4

Central body

Each Member State shall designate a central body that is responsible for:

(a) supplying information to the transmitting agencies;

(b) seeking solutions to any difficulties which may arise during the transmission of documents for service;

(c) forwarding, in exceptional cases, a request for service to the competent receiving agency at the request of a transmitting agency.

Federal Member States, Member States in which several legal systems apply and Member States with autonomous territorial units may designate more than one central body.

Article 5

Means of communication to be used by transmitting agencies, receiving agencies and central bodies

Article 6

Legal effects of electronic documents

Documents that are transmitted through the decentralised IT system shall not be denied legal effect or considered inadmissible as evidence in the proceedings solely on the grounds that they are in electronic form.

Article 7

Assistance in address enquiries

Where the address of the person to be served with the judicial or extrajudicial document in another Member State is not known, that Member State shall provide assistance in determining the address in, at least, one of the following ways:

(a) providing for designated authorities to which transmitting agencies may address requests on the determination of the address of the person to be served;

(b) allowing persons from other Member States to submit requests, including electronically, for information about addresses of persons to be served directly to domicile registries or other publicly accessible databases by means of a standard form available on the European e-Justice Portal; or

(c) providing detailed information, through the European e-Justice Portal, on how to find the addresses of persons to be served.

Each Member State shall provide the Commission with the following information with a view to making it available through the European e-Justice Portal:

(a) the means of assistance which the Member State will provide in its territory pursuant to paragraph 1;

(b) where applicable, the names and contact details of the authorities referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1;

(c) whether the authorities of the Member State addressed submit, on their own initiative, requests to domicile registries or other databases for information about addresses in cases where the address indicated in the request for service is not correct.

Member States shall notify the Commission of any subsequent modification of the information referred to in the first subparagraph.

CHAPTER II

JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS

SECTION 1

Transmission and service of judicial documents

Article 8

Transmission of documents

Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission any official language of the Union other than its own in which the form may be completed.

Article 9

Translation of documents

Article 10

Receipt of documents by receiving agency

Article 11

Service of documents

The receiving agency shall take all necessary steps to effect the service of the document as soon as possible, and in any event within one month of its receipt. If it has not been possible to effect the service within one month of receipt of the document, the receiving agency shall:

(a) immediately inform the transmitting agency by means of form K in Annex I or, if the transmitting agency has requested information by means of form I in Annex I, by means of form J in Annex I; and

(b) continue to take all necessary steps to effect the service of the document where service seems to be possible within a reasonable period of time, unless the transmitting agency indicates that service is no longer necessary.

Article 12

Refusal to accept a document

The addressee may refuse to accept the document to be served if the document is not written in, or is not accompanied by a translation into, either:

(a) a language which the addressee understands; or

(b) the official language of the Member State addressed or, if there are several official languages in that Member State, the official language or one of the official languages of the place where service is to be effected.

The receiving agency shall inform the addressee of the right provided for in paragraph 1 where the document is not written in, or is not accompanied by a translation into, a language referred to in point (b) of that paragraph, by enclosing with the document to be served form L in Annex I, which shall be provided in:

(a) the official language or one of the official languages of the Member State of origin; and

(b) a language referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1.

If there is an indication that the addressee understands an official language of another Member State, form L in Annex I shall also be provided in that language.

Where a Member State translates form L in Annex I into a language of a third country, it shall communicate that translation to the Commission with a view to making it available on the European e-Justice Portal.

Article 13

Date of service

Article 14

Certificate of service and copy of the document served

Article 15

Costs of service

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the applicant shall pay or reimburse the costs of:

(a) recourse to a judicial officer or to a person competent under the law of the Member State addressed;

(b) the use of a particular method of service.

Member States shall lay down a single fixed fee for recourse to a judicial officer or to a person competent under the law of the Member State addressed. That fee shall be in accordance with the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination. Member States shall communicate such fixed fees to the Commission.

SECTION 2

Other means of transmission and service of judicial documents

Article 16

Transmission by diplomatic or consular channels

In exceptional circumstances, each Member State may use diplomatic or consular channels to transmit judicial documents for the purpose of service to the receiving agencies or central bodies of another Member State.

Article 17

Service by diplomatic agents or consular officers

Article 18

Service by postal services

The service of judicial documents may be effected directly by postal services on persons present in another Member State by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or equivalent.

Article 19

Electronic service

The service of judicial documents may be effected directly on a person who has a known address for service in another Member State by any electronic means of service available under the law of the forum Member State for the domestic service of documents, provided that:

(a) the documents are sent and received using qualified electronic registered delivery services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 and the addressee gave prior express consent to the use of electronic means for serving documents in the course of legal proceedings; or

(b) the addressee gave prior express consent to the court or authority seised of the proceedings or to the party responsible for service of documents in such proceedings to the use of email sent to a specified email address for the purpose of serving documents in the course of those proceedings and the addressee confirms receipt of the document with an acknowledgement of receipt, including the date of receipt.

Article 19a

Electronic service through the European electronic access point

Article 20

Direct service

CHAPTER III

EXTRAJUDICIAL DOCUMENTS

Article 21

Transmission and service of extrajudicial documents

Extrajudicial documents may be transmitted to and served in another Member State in accordance with this Regulation.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 22

Defendant not entering an appearance

Where a document instituting proceedings or its equivalent has had to be transmitted to another Member State for the purpose of service under this Regulation and the defendant has not entered an appearance, judgment shall not be given until it is established that the service or the delivery of the document was effected in sufficient time to enable the defendant to enter a defence and that:

(a) the document was served by a method prescribed by the law of the Member State addressed for the service of documents in domestic actions upon persons who are within its territory; or

(b) the document was in fact delivered to the defendant or to the defendant’s residence by another method provided for by this Regulation.

Each Member State may communicate to the Commission the fact that a court, notwithstanding paragraph 1, may give judgment even if no certificate of service or delivery of the document instituting proceedings or its equivalent has been received, provided that all the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the document was transmitted by one of the methods provided for in this Regulation;

(b) a period considered adequate by the court in the particular case, which shall not be less than six months, has elapsed since the date of the transmission of the document;

(c) no certificate of any kind has been received, even though every reasonable effort has been made to obtain one through the competent authorities or bodies of the Member State addressed.

That information shall be made available through the European e-Justice Portal.

Where a document instituting proceedings or its equivalent has had to be transmitted to another Member State for the purpose of service in accordance with this Regulation and a judgment has been given against a defendant who has not entered an appearance, the judge shall have the power to relieve the defendant from the effects of the expiry of the time for appeal from the judgment where both of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the defendant, without any fault on the defendant’s part, did not have knowledge of the document in sufficient time to enter a defence or did not have knowledge of the judgment in sufficient time to appeal; and

(b) the defendant has raised a prima facie defence to the action on the merits.

An application for such relief may be filed only within a reasonable time after the defendant has knowledge of the judgment.

Each Member State may communicate to the Commission the fact that an application for relief will not be admissible if it is filed after the expiry of a deadline set by the Member State in that communication. That deadline shall in no case be sooner than one year following the date of the judgment. That information shall be made available through the European e-Justice Portal.

Article 23

Amendment of Annex I

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 24 to amend Annex I in order to update the forms set out therein or to make technical changes to those forms.

Article 24

Exercise of the delegation

Article 25

Adoption of implementing acts by the Commission

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing the decentralised IT system, setting out the following:

(a) the technical specifications defining the methods of communication by electronic means for the purposes of the decentralised IT system;

(b) the technical specifications for communication protocols;

(c) the information security objectives and relevant technical measures ensuring minimum information security standards for the processing and communication of information within the decentralised IT system;

(d) the minimum availability objectives and possible related technical requirements for the services provided by the decentralised IT system;

(e) the establishment of a steering committee comprising representatives of the Member States to ensure the operation and maintenance of the decentralised IT system in order to meet the objectives of this Regulation.

Article 26

Committee procedure

Article 27

Reference implementation software

Article 28

Costs of the decentralised IT system

Article 29

Relationship with agreements or arrangements between Member States

Member States shall send to the Commission:

(a) a copy of any agreements or arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 concluded between the Member States, as well as drafts of any such agreements or arrangements which they intend to adopt; and

(b) any denunciation of, or amendments to, those agreements or arrangements.

Article 30

Legal aid

This Regulation shall not affect the application of Article 24 of the Hague Convention of 1 March 1954 on Civil Procedure or Article 13 of the Convention on International Access to Justice of 25 October 1980 between the Member States party to those Conventions.

Article 31

Protection of information transmitted

Any exchange or transmission of information by competent authorities at Union level shall be undertaken in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

Personal data which are not relevant for the handling of a specific case shall be deleted immediately.

Article 32

Respect for fundamental rights under Union law

The fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons involved shall be fully observed and respected in accordance with Union law, in particular the rights to equal access to justice, to non-discrimination and to the protection of personal data and privacy.

Article 33

Communication, publication and manual

Member States shall communicate to the Commission if their national law requires a document to be served within a particular period as referred to in Articles 12(5) and 13(2).

Article 34

Monitoring

Member States shall provide the Commission with the following data necessary for the purposes of monitoring, where available:

(a) the number of requests for the service of documents transmitted in accordance with Article 8;

(b) the number of requests for the service of documents executed in accordance with Article 11;

(c) the number of cases in which the request for the service of documents was transmitted by means other than through the decentralised IT system in accordance with Article 5(4);

(d) the number of received certificates of non-service of documents;

(e) the number of refusals of documents for language reasons received by the transmitting agencies.

Article 35

Evaluation

Article 36

Repeal

Article 37

Entry into force and application

It shall apply from 1 July 2022.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaties.

ANNEX I

FORM A

REQUEST FOR SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS (Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (1))
(1) OJ L 405, 2.12.2020, p. 40.

Reference No of the transmitting agency:

1. TRANSMITTING AGENCY

1.1. Identity:

1.2. Address: 1.2.1. Street and number/PO box: 1.2.2. Place and postcode: 1.2.3. Country:

1.3. Tel.

1.4. Fax (²):

1.5. Email:

2. RECEIVING AGENCY

2.1. Identity:

2.2. Address: 2.2.1. Street and number/PO box: 2.2.2. Place and postcode: 2.2.3. Country:

2.3. Tel.

2.4. Fax (2) :

2.5. Email:

3. APPLICANT(S) (³)

3.1. Identity:

3.2. Address: 3.2.1. Street and number/PO box: 3.2.2. Place and postcode: 3.2.3. Country:

3.3. Tel. (2) :

3.4. Fax (2) :

3.5. Email (2) :

4. ADDRESSEE

4.1. Identity: 4.1.1. Date of birth, if available:

4.2. Address 4.2.1. Street and number/PO box: 4.2.2. Place and postcode: 4.2.3. Country:

4.3. Tel. (2) :

4.4. Fax (2) :

4.5. Email (2) :

4.6. Identification number/social security number/organisation number/or equivalent (2) :

4.7. Any other information relating to the addressee (2) :

5. METHOD OF SERVICE

5.1. In accordance with the law of the Member State addressed□

5.2. By the following particular method□ 5.2.1. If this method is incompatible with the law of the Member State addressed, the document(s) should be served in accordance with the law of that Member State: 5.2.1.1. yes□ 5.2.1.2. no□

6. DOCUMENT TO BE SERVED

6.1. Nature of the document: 6.1.1. judicial□ 6.1.1.1. writ of summons□ 6.1.1.2. decision/judgment□ 6.1.1.3. appeal□ 6.1.1.4. other (please specify): 6.1.2. extrajudicial□

6.2. Date or time limit after which service is no longer necessary (2) : (day)(month) (year)

6.3. Language of document: 6.3.1. original BG □, ES □, CS □, DE □, ET □, EL □, EN □, FR □, GA □, HR □, IT □, LV □, LT □, HU □, MT □, NL □, PL □, PT □, RO □, SK □, SL □, FI □, SV □ (please specify) 6.3.2. translation (2)  BG □, ES □, CS □, DE □, ET □, EL □, EN □, FR □, GA □, HR □, IT □, LV □, LT □, HU □, MT □, NL □, PL □, PT □, RO □, SK □, SL □, FI □, SV □, other □ (please specify)

6.4. Number of enclosures:

7. LANGUAGE OF INFORMATION TO THE ADDRESSEE ABOUT THE RIGHT TO REFUSE THE DOCUMENT

For the purposes of Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784, please indicate in which of the following languages, in addition to the language of the Member State addressed, the information is to be provided: