Hague Service Convention:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently sought assistance from the Union Law Ministry, the central authority for India under the Hague Service Convention, to effectuate summons on Gautam Adani and his associates.
- Hague Service Convention, formally known as the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, 1965, was adopted at the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 1965.
- Building on the 1905 and 1954 Hague Conventions on Civil Procedure, this multilateral treaty ensures that defendants sued in foreign jurisdictions receive timely and actual notice of legal proceedings while facilitating proof of service.
- 84 states, including India and the U.S., are parties to the Convention.
- Its procedures apply only when both the sending and receiving countries are signatories.
- Each member state must also designate a central authority to process requests and facilitate the service of documents from other signatory states.
- Signatory states can select the modes of transmission that apply within their jurisdiction.
- Under the Convention, the primary mode of service is through designated central authorities.
- However, alternative channels are also available, including postal service, diplomatic and consular channels, direct communication between judicial officers in both states, direct contact between an interested party and judicial authorities in the receiving state, and direct communication between government authorities.
