Efficiency, digitalisation, and security in the service of documents and the taking of evidence within the European Union are the objectives underlying two EU Regulations applied as of 1 July 2022, namely:

Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters (taking of evidence) (recast), which repealed Regulation (EC) 1206/2001;
Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast), which repealed Regulation (EC) 1393/2007.
Both Regulations aim to improve the efficiency, rapidity, and security of the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents and the taking of evidence, respectively, in EU cross-border civil or commercial cases. In particular, by relying on digitalisation (i.e. implementing a secure and reliable decentralised IT system – a network of national IT systems and interoperable access points that rely on e-Codex), and on more traditional means, such as standard forms.

This course is designed to offer a comprehensive overview of these instruments. It highlights the main innovations introduced with their 2020 recast versions, while also relying on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in this area of the law.

The purpose of the course is two-fold:

to familiarise participants with emerging issues in the area of service of documents and taking of evidence, especially in light of the recent legislative amendments and the developments stemming from the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union;
to shed light on the policy and legal considerations underlying this area of the law, including at the multilateral level.