Germany Judicial Assistance

Germany 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 Germany’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, Germany formally objected to service under Article 10, and does not permit service via postal channels.  Any other methods of service, including attempts at service by mail, are considered illegal in Germany and an affront to its judicial sovereignty.  For additional information see the Hague Conference Service Convention web page and theHague Conference Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention.  See also Germany’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 Germany 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.

Germany is a party to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters.  Germany designated multiple German Central Authorities for the Hague Evidence Convention designated to receive letters of request for the taking of evidence.  Letters of Request shall be addressed to the Central Authority of the “Land” in Germany in which the respective request is to be executed.  See the Hague Evidence Convention Model Letters of Request for guidance on preparation of the letter of request.  Requests for the compulsion of evidence under the Hague Evidence Convention are transmitted directly from the requesting court or person in the United States to the German Central Authority and do not require transmittal via diplomatic channels.  Letters of Request and accompanying documents should be prepared in duplicate and translated into German.  See Germany’s Declarations and Reservations regarding the Hague Evidence Convention.  See also Germany’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Hague Evidence Convention.   

Requests from Germany 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.