Serbia Judicial Assistance

Serbia is a party to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters.  Complete information on the operation of the Convention, including an interactive online request form are available on the Hague Conference website.  Requests should be completed in duplicate and submitted with two sets of the documents to be served, and translations, directly to Serbia’s Central Authority for the Hague Service Convention.  The person in the United States executing the request form should be either an attorney or clerk of court.  The applicant should include the titles attorney at law or clerk of court on the identity and address of applicant and signature/stamp fields.  In its Declarations and Reservations on the Hague Service Convention, Serbia formally objected to service under Article 10, and does not permit service via postal channels.  For additional information see the Hague Conference Service Convention website and the Hague Conference Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention.  See also Serbia’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Service Convention.

Service on a Foreign State:  See also our Service Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) feature and FSIA Checklist for questions about service on a foreign state, agency or instrumentality.

Service of Documents from Serbia in the United States:  See information about service in the United States on the U.S. Central Authority for the Service Convention page of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Service Convention site.

Prosecution Requests:  U.S. federal or state prosecutors should also contact the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice for guidance. 

Defense Requests in Criminal Matters:  Criminal defendants or their defense counsel seeking judicial assistance in obtaining evidence or in effecting service of documents abroad in connection with criminal matters may do so via the letters rogatory process.

Serbia is a party to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters.  The Hague Evidence Convention entered into force for Serbia August 31, 2012.  The United States has not yet accepted Serbia’s accession to the Hague Evidence Convention, so the Convention is not yet in force between the United States and Serbia.  The Central Authority for Serbia for the Hague Evidence Convention designated to receive letters of request for compulsion of evidence is the Belgrade First Instance Court.  See the Hague Evidence Convention Model Letters of Request for guidance on how to prepare a letter of request.  Upon the entry into force of the Convention between the United States and Serbia, requests for compulsion of evidence under the Hague Evidence Convention will be transmitted directly from the requesting court or person in the United States to the Serbia Central Authority and will not require transmittal via diplomatic channels.  Requests should be submitted in duplicate with Serbian translations.  See the Serbian Declarations and Reservations regarding the Hague Evidence Convention.  Until the Hague Evidence Convention enters into force between the United States and Serbia, requests for compulsion of evidence should be transmitted via the diplomatic channel using the letters rogatory procedure described below.

Requests from Serbia to Obtain Evidence in the United States:  The U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Evidence Convention is the Office of International Judicial Assistance, Civil Division, Department of Justice, 1100 L St., N.W., Room 11006, Washington, D.C. 20530.  Until the Hague Evidence Convention enters into force between the United States and Serbia, Serbian authorities may submit letters rogatory through the diplomatic channel for transmittal by the U.S. Department of State to the Office of Foreign Litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice at the same address or avail themselves of other available procedures.