Hague Evidence Convention
Encyclopedia
The Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters -- more commonly referred to as the Hague Evidence Convention, is a multilateral treaty which was drafted under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law
Hague Conference on Private International Law
The Hague Conference on Private International Law is the preeminent organisation in the area of private international law....

. The treaty was negotiated in 1967 and 1968 and signed in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 on 18 March 1970. It entered into force in 1972. It allows transmission of letters of request (letters rogatory) from one signatory state (where the evidence is sought) to another signatory state (where the evidence is located) without recourse to consular and diplomatic channels
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...

.

The Hague Evidence Convention was not the first convention to address the transmission of evidence from one state to another. The 1905 Civil Procedure Convention — also signed in The Hague — contained provisions dealing with the transmission of evidence. However, that earlier convention did not command wide support and was only ratified by 22 countries. The United States initiated the negotiations that led to the creation of the Hague Evidence Convention. However, insofar as requests to United States courts are concerned, the use of the Hague Evidence Convention has been replaced in large part by the simpler discovery provision codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1782 (see Section 1782 Discovery
Section 1782 Discovery
Section 1782 of Title 28 of the United States Code is a federal statute that allows a litigant to a legal proceeding outside the United States to apply to an American court to obtain evidence for use in the non-US proceeding...

).

In the European Union, the Hague Evidence Convention has largely been supplanted by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001
Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001
Council Regulation No. 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters is a European Union regulation in the field of judicial cooperation. It allows taking of evidence from one member state to another without...

on Cooperation Between the Courts of the Member States in the Taking of Evidence in Civil or Commercial Matters.

Parties to the Hague Evidence Convention

As of February 22, 2009, there are 47 states which are parties of the Hague Evidence Convention. Forty-two of the 68 Hague Conference on Private International Law member states are party to the Hague Service Convention. In addition, five states which are not members of the Hague Conference (Barbados, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Seychelles, and Singapore) have joined the Hague Service Convention. Article 39 of the Hague Evidence Convention Expressly permits states which are not members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law to acceded to the Convention.
State Date of Ratification State Date of Ratification
 Argentina 08 May 1987  Australia 23 October 1992
 Barbados 05 March 1981  Belarus 07 August 2001
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 16 June 2008  Kingdom of Bulgaria 23 November 1999
 Mainland China, People's Republic of 08 December 1997  Cyprus 13 January 1983
 Czech Republic 06 February 1976  Denmark 18 April 1972
 Estonia 02 February 1996  Finland 09 March 1976
 Early Modern France 24 August 1972  Germany 18 March 1970
 Greece 18 January 2005  Hungary 13 July 2004
 Iceland 10 November 2008  India 07 February 2007
 Israel 11 November 1977  Italy 06 February 1975
 Kuwait 08 May 2002  Latvia 28 March 1995
 Liechtenstein 12 November 2008  Lithuania 02 August 2000
 Luxembourg 26 July 1977  Mexico 27 July 1989
 Monaco 17 January 1986  Netherlands 08 April 1981
 Norway 03 August 1972  Poland 13 February 1996
 Portugal 18 March 1970  Kingdom of Romania 21 August 2003
 Russia 01 May 2001  Seychelles 07 January 2004
 Singapore 27 October 1978  Slovakia 12 May 1976
 Slovenia 18 November 2000  South Africa 08 July 1997
 Spain 08 July 1997  Sri Lanka 30 October 2000
 Sweden 21 April 1975  Switzerland 02 November 1994
 Turkey 13 December 2000  Ukraine 01 February 2001
18 March 1970  United States 27 July 1970
 Venezuela 01 November 1993

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