Hague Convention Service of Process: Central Authority and Article 10

Serving legal documents on a defendant in another country generally runs through the Hague Convention service of process system: you send a standardized request, along with the documents to be served, to a designated government office in the destination country called the Central Authority, which arranges delivery under its own law and sends back a certificate confirming what happened.¹ The treaty binds more than 80 countries and, where it applies, it is not an option you can skip.

When You Have to Use the Convention

Three conditions have to line up: the case is civil or commercial, documents need to be transmitted to another country for service, and both the forum country and the country where the defendant sits are parties to the treaty.¹ When those conditions are met, the Convention is the exclusive route. The U.S. Supreme Court settled that point in Volkswagenwerk AG v. Schlunk: if documents must be sent abroad for service, the Convention governs.²

Two situations fall outside the treaty. If the destination country never signed, you rely on that country’s own rules or any bilateral arrangement. And if the defendant’s address is unknown, the Convention cannot be used at all, because the whole system depends on transmitting documents to a specific location.¹

Confirm the Country Is a Party and Read Its Declarations

Before you spend a dollar on translations, look up the destination country on the Hague Conference on Private International Law status table. It lists every contracting state and, more importantly, the declarations and reservations each one has filed.³ Those declarations tell you which service methods the country accepts, which it has blocked, whether translations are required, and any local quirks. A request that ignores a declaration gets rejected, and you lose months.

Prepare the Request Packet

The packet contains the documents you want served (usually a summons and complaint) plus the mandatory request form, known as the Model Form or Annex A. The form identifies the requesting authority, the parties, and the defendant’s address abroad. Everything goes in duplicate.

Language and Translations

The pre-printed portions of the Model Form must be in English or French. The blanks you fill in can be completed in English, French, or the official language of the destination country. The documents being served are a separate question. Most receiving countries require them translated into the local official language, and some reject packets that arrive untranslated.

The kind of translation matters. Common-law countries like the United States and the United Kingdom generally accept a “certified” translation. Civil-law countries such as France, Germany, and Spain often require a “sworn” translation prepared by a government-registered translator. A handful of countries have waived translation requirements entirely. The status table is where you find out.

Individuals vs. Companies

When the defendant is a company, use its full legal name and registered address, and check whether the destination country wants a specific individual (a director or registered agent, for instance) identified as the person authorized to accept service. If the defendant is a foreign government or its agency, additional domestic rules layer on top of the Convention; in the United States, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act imposes its own procedures that also have to be followed.

Send the Packet to the Central Authority

Every treaty country designates a Central Authority to receive incoming service requests and get the documents delivered inside its borders.⁴ You send the completed packet directly to that office. Contact details for each country’s Central Authority are on the HCCH site.

Once received, the Central Authority arranges service using a method allowed under its own domestic law, whether that is delivery by a court officer, personal delivery, or another locally recognized method. You can request a specific method on the Model Form, and the Central Authority will accommodate it if it is compatible with local law.¹

Fees

The Convention’s default rule is that Central Authority service is free. Some countries charge anyway. The United States charges $95 for requests to serve private individuals or companies, payable to the contractor that executes service on behalf of the Department of Justice’s Office of International Judicial Assistance. No fee applies when the U.S. government itself is being served.⁵ If a fee applies and you leave it out, expect the packet back unprocessed.

How Long It Takes

Processing times swing widely. Some Central Authorities finish in a few weeks. Others routinely take six months or more, especially in countries with overloaded courts or complex internal delivery rules. Plan for the slow end, not the fast one.

Alternatives Under Article 10

The Central Authority channel is the main route, but Article 10 preserves three alternatives, each available only if the destination country has not objected.

Postal channels, Article 10(a). Sending documents by mail directly to a person abroad. In Water Splash, Inc. v. Menon, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that Article 10(a) does permit service by mail where the destination country allows it.⁶
Judicial officers abroad, Article 10(b). Officials in the forum country arrange service directly through judicial officers in the destination country, bypassing the Central Authority.¹
Interested party through local agents, Article 10(c). Anyone with a stake in the case, including the plaintiff, arranges service through competent persons in the destination country.

Objections are common. Japan formally objected to service by mail under Article 10(a) in 2018. China and Germany have long-standing objections.⁷ Using a channel the destination country has blocked doesn’t just fail; it means service was never legally accomplished, no matter what the defendant received. Check the declarations first.

The Certificate Comes Back

When service is done, or after an attempt fails, the Central Authority completes a Certificate (the second part of the Model Form, sometimes called Annex B) and returns it to the requesting party. The certificate is your formal proof of service. It states the method used, the date and place of service, and the person to whom the documents were delivered.¹

If service failed, the certificate still comes back and explains why: wrong address, refusal to accept, defendant not found. From there you fix the problem and resubmit, or ask the court’s permission to try an alternative method.

When a Central Authority Refuses

A Central Authority can refuse the request, but only on narrow grounds. Article 13 permits refusal only when the receiving country considers the request a threat to its sovereignty or security.¹ A country cannot refuse merely because it claims exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter or because its domestic law wouldn’t recognize the claim. If a refusal comes, the Central Authority must notify you promptly and give the reason.

Default Judgments When the Defendant Doesn’t Appear

The Convention builds in protections for absent defendants. Under Article 15, a court cannot enter default judgment unless the documents were served using a Convention-recognized method and enough time has passed for the defendant to prepare a defense.⁸ “Sufficient time” is left to the court, which weighs distance, complexity, and practical obstacles.

Sometimes the certificate never arrives. Countries that have made a declaration under Article 15(2) allow their courts to proceed with a default judgment even without the certificate if three conditions are met: the documents were sent using a Convention-permitted method, at least six months have passed since transmission, and every reasonable effort was made to get the certificate.¹ Six months is a floor. A judge can require more.

Article 16 gives defendants a route back in. A defendant who lost by default can ask the court to vacate the judgment if they can show two things: they did not learn about the documents in time to defend, and they have a viable defense on the merits. The application generally has to come within a reasonable time after they discover the judgment, though some countries impose a hard outer limit.

What Happens if You Get It Wrong

Ineffective service is where cases collapse. If you serve a defendant in a Convention country without following the Convention, courts treat the service as legally void, whether or not the defendant actually got the papers. The Convention is a treaty obligation, not a formality that judges can excuse. U.S. federal courts routinely dismiss cases or deny default judgment motions when service falls short. A court may stay dismissal briefly so you can try again, but the lost time and cost are real.

Practical Tips

Read the country’s declarations first. They control which methods you can use, whether translations are required, and any special procedures.³
Get the translation type right. Rejected translations are one of the most common causes of delay. Civil-law countries often require a sworn translation, not a certified one.
Include the fee where one applies. A U.S. request needs a $95 payment to the contractor.⁵
Start early. Convention service can take weeks or many months. File the case and send the request as soon as you can.
Keep the paper trail. Save copies of the Model Form, the served documents, the translations, proof of any fee, and all transmittal correspondence. If someone later challenges service, that record is your defense.

1
HCCH. Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
2
Cornell Law – Legal Information Institute. Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v Schlunk
3
HCCH. Status Table – Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
4
HCCH. Authorities per Party
5
U.S. Department of Justice. Civil Division – Service Requests
6
Supreme Court of the United States. Water Splash Inc v Menon
7
U.S. Department of State. Service of Process
8
HCCH. Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Service Convention