In 2020, the recasts of the EU Regulations on service of documents (Regulation no. 2020/1784) and taking of evidence (Regulation no. 2020/1783) in cross-border civil cases were approved by the EU legislator. They entered into force in August 2022.

This course proposes a comprehensive scrutiny of these instruments, highlighting the main innovations brought by their 2020 recast versions. At the same time, it will also examine these instruments in the light of the European Court of Justice case law under previous versions of those instruments and to which extent such case law remains in application.

Besides analysing the referred EU instruments, the course will also provide an overview of the equivalent instruments elaborated by the Hague Conference: the 1965 Hague Service Convention and the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention. In this manner, participants will attain a global picture of the possibilities they might encounter when taking evidence or serving documents in a cross-border context.

What will you learn:

Participants will have the opportunity to learn the following:

the scope of application of both the Service and Evidence Regulation
which are the main innovations brought by the 2020 updated versions of the Service and Evidence Regulations
the different possibilities offered by the Service Regulation to serve documents in other Member States
the Brussels I bis Regulation’s alternative path to the Evidence Regulation to take evidence in another Member State
the differences between the EU instruments on service and evidence and their counterparts of the Hague Convention.
Course methodology/highlights:

The course provides an analysis of the different scrutinized European and International legal instruments on the service of documents and taking evidence in the light of the national practice and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and domestic courts.

The course has an interactive character, giving room for participants to intervene in each session, while trainers will often ask questions intended to trigger discussions among participants.

Prior to the course, you will be given access to the course materials on our digital learning platform. Such materials include the texts of the legal instruments analysed as well. This includes a short questionnaire, which will help us identify any specific questions you may have so we can consider as many of them as possible during the course.

Preparatory reading and materials will be available on the platform to facilitate joining the course. All course materials will be made available for the participants.