A registered letter from a Portuguese court arrives at a flat in Berlin; a bailiff in Milan hands an envelope from a Dutch court to a Frenchwoman who has lived there for two years; an email from a Spanish lawyer asks a British retiree in Alicante to confirm receipt of a claim. Cross-border service of documents is the point at which a dispute in one Member State becomes real in another, and it is governed, for civil and commercial matters between EU Member States, by a single instrument: Regulation (EU) 2020/1784. What it requires of the sender, what it allows the recipient to refuse, and what it does for a defendant who never received the papers at all are questions with precise answers.
This guide is written for people living in an EU Member State who receive, or need to send, court documents from or to another Member State, and for the advisers helping them. It follows the text of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters, which applies from 1 July 2022 (Article 37) and replaced Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007. Article numbers are those of the Regulation.
What the Regulation covers, and what it does not (Articles 1 and 7)
Article 1 sets the scope: the Regulation applies to the cross-border service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters. It does not apply to revenue, customs or administrative matters, or to the liability of a State for acts done in the exercise of public authority; a tax demand or an administrative fine from another Member State travels by other routes. It does not apply either where the document is served in the forum Member State on a representative authorised by the person to be served, wherever that person lives (Article 1(3)): a defendant in Lisbon who has appointed a lawyer in Madrid to receive documents is served in Madrid under Spanish law, not under the Regulation.
The Regulation also does not apply, with one exception, where the address of the person to be served is unknown (Article 1(2)). The exception is Article 7, which obliges each Member State to help find the address in at least one of three ways: by designating authorities to which transmitting agencies may address requests for the address; by allowing persons from other Member States to ask domicile registries or other public databases directly, including electronically, through a standard form on the European e-Justice Portal; or by publishing on the Portal detailed information on how to find addresses. A claimant who does not know where the defendant lives therefore has a statutory tool before the service question arises.
The main channel: transmitting and receiving agencies (Articles 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11)
Each Member State designates transmitting agencies, competent to send documents to be served in another Member State, and receiving agencies, competent to receive documents from another Member State (Article 3); a State may designate one body for both functions, and the designations are published on the e-Justice Portal. A central body in each State supplies information to transmitting agencies, seeks solutions to difficulties and, exceptionally, forwards requests (Article 4). Communication between agencies takes place through a decentralised IT system based on national systems and interoperable access points (Article 5), and documents transmitted through that system may not be denied legal effect or admissibility solely because they are in electronic form (Article 6).
The document is transmitted directly and as quickly as possible between the agencies, accompanied by a request on form A of Annex I, completed in the official language of the Member State addressed, or of the place of service, or in another language that State has said it accepts (Article 8(2)). Documents transmitted under the Regulation are exempt from legalisation or any equivalent formality (Article 8(3)): no apostille is needed on a court document sent for service. The receiving agency acknowledges receipt automatically through the IT system or, by other means, within seven days using form D (Article 10(1)); where the request cannot be executed on the information supplied it contacts the transmitting agency with form E, and where the request is manifestly outside the Regulation or formally defective it returns it with form F (Article 10(2)-(3)). An agency without territorial jurisdiction forwards the document to the competent agency and informs the sender with form G (Article 10(4)).
The receiving agency serves the document itself or has it served, either in accordance with the law of the Member State addressed or by a particular method requested by the transmitting agency, unless that method is incompatible with its law (Article 11(1)). It must take all necessary steps to serve as soon as possible and in any event within one month of receipt; if that proves impossible, it must immediately inform the transmitting agency with form K (or form J where information was requested with form I) and continue to try where service seems possible within a reasonable time, unless told that service is no longer necessary (Article 11(2)).
The recipient's right to refuse: language (Article 12)
The most important provision for a person served is Article 12. The addressee may refuse to accept the document if it is not written in, or accompanied by a translation into, either a language which the addressee understands, or the official language of the Member State addressed, or, where that State has several official languages, the official language or one of the official languages of the place where service is effected (Article 12(1)). The receiving agency must inform the addressee of that right by enclosing form L, provided in the official language of the Member State of origin and in the language of the place of service, and also in the official language of another Member State where there is an indication that the addressee understands it (Article 12(2)).
The refusal may be made at the time of service or within two weeks of it, by a written declaration; the addressee may return form L to the receiving agency or write a declaration stating that he refuses the document because of the language in which it was served (Article 12(3)). The agency informs the transmitting agency at once with form K and returns the request and the documents for which a translation is requested (Article 12(4)). The refusal is not the end of the matter: service may be remedied by serving the document together with a translation into a language permitted by paragraph 1, in which case the date of service is the date on which the document and its translation were served under the law of the Member State addressed; but where the law of a Member State requires the document to be served within a particular period, the date to be taken into account with respect to the applicant is the date of service of the initial document (Article 12(5)). The same rules apply to the alternative channels of service described below (Article 12(6)).
Two practical points follow. A person who understands the language of the document, for instance a Dutch national served in Italy with a document in Dutch, cannot refuse it on language grounds even though Dutch is not the language of the place of service; the test in Article 12(1)(a) is what the addressee understands. And a refusal must be made within the two weeks and in writing; an addressee who simply ignores an envelope in a foreign language has not refused it, and the date of service and the periods that run from it are not affected.
The other channels: post, electronic service, direct service and consular service (Articles 16 to 20)
The agency channel is not the only one. Article 18 allows judicial documents to be served directly by postal services on persons in another Member State, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or an equivalent. Article 19 allows electronic service directly on a person with a known address for service in another Member State, by any electronic means available for domestic service in the forum State, provided either that the documents are sent and received through qualified electronic registered delivery services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 and the addressee gave prior express consent to electronic service in legal proceedings, or that the addressee gave prior express consent to the court, authority or party to the use of email to a specified address for that purpose and confirms receipt with an acknowledgement stating the date (Article 19(1)); a Member State may notify additional conditions for the email route (Article 19(2)). Consent is the key: a document emailed to a person who never agreed to be served by email is not served under Article 19.
Article 20 allows any person with an interest in the proceedings to effect service directly through the judicial officers, officials or other competent persons of the Member State where service is sought, where that State's law permits direct service; the Commission publishes on the e-Justice Portal which professions are allowed to do this in each State. Articles 16 and 17 preserve, in exceptional circumstances, transmission by diplomatic or consular channels and service by a State's diplomatic agents or consular officers on persons residing in another Member State, without coercion; a Member State may object to consular service on its territory except on nationals of the State of origin (Article 17(2)). Extrajudicial documents, such as a notarial notice or a demand letter, may be transmitted and served under the Regulation in the same way (Article 21).
Date of service, and who pays (Articles 13 and 15)
The date of service is the date on which the document was served in accordance with the law of the Member State addressed (Article 13(1)). Where, however, the law of a Member State requires a document to be served within a particular period, the date to be taken into account with respect to the applicant is the date determined by the law of that State (Article 13(2)); the rule protects a claimant who filed in time from delays in the foreign service. Both rules apply to the alternative channels as well (Article 13(3)). On completion of service the receiving agency issues a certificate of service, or of non-service, on form K, in a language the State of origin accepts (Article 14).
Service of judicial documents originating in a Member State does not give rise to any obligation to pay or reimburse taxes or costs for services rendered by the Member State addressed (Article 15(1)). The applicant does pay the costs of recourse to a judicial officer or other competent person of the State addressed and of a particular method of service that he requested, and each Member State must fix a single fixed fee for such recourse, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and communicate it to the Commission (Article 15(2)). Translation costs prior to transmission are borne by the applicant, without prejudice to a later decision by the court on who bears them (Article 9(2)), and the transmitting agency must warn the applicant that the addressee may refuse an untranslated document (Article 9(1)).
| Question | Provision | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Article 1 | Judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters; not tax, customs or administrative matters; not service on an authorised representative in the forum State |
| Address unknown | Article 7 | Each Member State provides at least one means of address enquiry: designated authorities, direct access to registries via the e-Justice Portal, or published guidance |
| Main channel | Articles 3, 8, 10, 11 | Transmitting agency to receiving agency with form A; no legalisation; acknowledgement within seven days; service within one month or notice of the delay |
| Language refusal | Article 12 | Refusal if the document is neither in a language the addressee understands nor in the language of the place of service; form L; two weeks; cured by service with a translation |
| Post | Article 18 | Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or equivalent, directly to the person in the other Member State |
| Electronic service | Article 19 | Qualified electronic registered delivery with prior express consent, or email to a specified address with prior consent and acknowledged receipt |
| Direct service | Article 20 | Through judicial officers or competent persons of the State of service where its law permits; professions listed on the e-Justice Portal |
| Date of service | Article 13 | Law of the Member State addressed; the applicant's own deadline is measured under the law of the forum State |
| Costs | Articles 9, 15 | No tax or cost for the State's own services; single fixed fee for a judicial officer; translation before transmission paid by the applicant |
| Defendant absent | Article 22 | No judgment until proper and timely service is shown (six-month exception on notification); relief from the time for appeal, not sooner than one year; not for status cases |
If you never appeared: the protection in Article 22
Article 22 is the defendant's safeguard. Where a document instituting proceedings had to be transmitted to another Member State for service under the Regulation and the defendant has not entered an appearance, judgment may not be given until it is established that the document was served by a method prescribed by the law of the Member State addressed for domestic service on persons within its territory, or was in fact delivered to the defendant or to his residence by another method provided for by the Regulation, and that in either case service or delivery was effected in sufficient time to enable the defendant to defend (Article 22(1)). A Member State may notify that its courts may nonetheless give judgment where the document was transmitted by a method provided for in the Regulation, a period the court considers adequate and not less than six months has elapsed since transmission, and no certificate of any kind has been received despite every reasonable effort (Article 22(2)); in justified cases of urgency courts may order provisional or protective measures regardless (Article 22(3)).
Where judgment has been given against a defendant who did not appear, the judge may relieve the defendant from the expiry of the time for appeal if, without any fault on his part, the defendant did not have knowledge of the document in sufficient time to defend or of the judgment in sufficient time to appeal, and has raised a prima facie defence on the merits (Article 22(4)). The application must be made within a reasonable time after the defendant learns of the judgment; a Member State may set an outer deadline for such applications, which may not be sooner than one year after the judgment. The relief is not available for judgments concerning the status or capacity of persons (Article 22(5)). For an expat who discovers, on returning from a long absence, that a foreign judgment has been entered against him, Article 22(4) is the provision to read first.
Practical guidance
If you are served: do not ignore the envelope, and do not sign away the language point. Read form L if it is enclosed. If the document is not in a language you understand and not in the language of the place where you live, you may refuse it in writing within two weeks under Article 12; if you do understand the language, the refusal is not available and the deadlines in the document run from the date of service under local law.
Check the channel. A registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt is valid service under Article 18; an email is valid only if you had consented in advance under Article 19; a document handed to you by a local bailiff is direct service under Article 20 where the State allows it. A document that arrived by a route the Regulation does not recognise is a defence, not a reason to relax.
If you never received anything and a judgment now exists, act within a reasonable time. Article 22(4) allows the judge to reopen the time for appeal where you had no knowledge, without fault, and have an arguable defence; Member States may impose an outer limit that cannot be shorter than a year after the judgment. The clock runs from the day you learned of the judgment.
If you need to serve someone in another Member State, translate first and choose the channel deliberately. An untranslated document invites a refusal that costs weeks; the applicant pays for the translation under Article 9. Registered post under Article 18 is fast and cheap where an acknowledgement is likely to be signed; the agency channel under Articles 8 to 11 produces a certificate on form K that a court will accept without argument; direct service under Article 20 is available only in States whose law permits it.
Keep the proof. The certificate on form K, the postal acknowledgement, the email acknowledgement with its date and the receipt of the local officer are the documents on which Article 22 turns. Without them a judgment against an absent defendant cannot be given, and with them a defendant's later claim of ignorance is answered.
Frequently asked questions
I received a claim from a court in another EU country in a language I do not speak. Can I refuse it?
Yes, if it is neither in a language you understand nor in the official language of the place where it was served, and if it was not accompanied by a translation into one of those languages. Article 12 lets you refuse at the time of service or within two weeks by a written declaration, using form L or a letter stating that you refuse because of the language. The sender may then serve it again with a translation, and the date of service is the date of that second service, subject to the sender's own deadline rule in Article 12(5).
Does a registered letter count as valid service from abroad?
Yes. Article 18 allows judicial documents to be served directly by post on a person in another Member State by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or an equivalent. The language rules of Article 12 apply to postal service as well, so a registered letter in a language you neither understand nor share with your place of residence may still be refused within two weeks.
Can a foreign court or lawyer serve me by email?
Only with your prior express consent. Article 19 permits electronic service either through a qualified electronic registered delivery service, where you agreed in advance to electronic service in legal proceedings, or by email to a specified address, where you agreed in advance to that and you confirm receipt with an acknowledgement stating the date. An email sent without such consent is not service under the Regulation.
How long does service between EU countries take?
The receiving agency must take all necessary steps to serve as soon as possible and in any event within one month of receiving the document (Article 11(2)); if it cannot, it must inform the sending agency immediately and keep trying where service seems possible within a reasonable time. Postal and direct service are often quicker; a refusal for language adds the time needed to translate and serve again.
A judgment was entered against me in another Member State but I never received the claim. What can I do?
Article 22(4) allows the judge to relieve you from the expiry of the time for appeal if, without fault on your part, you did not know of the document in time to defend or of the judgment in time to appeal, and you raise a prima facie defence on the merits. You must apply within a reasonable time after learning of the judgment; a Member State may fix an outer limit, which cannot be sooner than one year after the judgment. The relief does not apply to judgments on personal status or capacity.
Does the Regulation apply to a tax demand or a fine from another EU country?
No. Article 1 excludes revenue, customs and administrative matters and the liability of a State for the exercise of public authority. Those documents are served under other instruments or under bilateral arrangements, and the language and refusal rules of the Regulation do not apply to them.