Hague Service Convention enters into force for Brazil internationally

On June 1, 2019 the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Convention), commonly referred to as the Hague Service Convention, will enter into force for Brazil at the international level, allowing both foreign parties to effect service in Brazil and Brazilian authorities to effect service abroad based on the Convention.

The Convention was signed by the original Signatory States in The Hague, Netherlands, on November 15, 1965. However, the Brazilian Government only deposited its instruments of accession on November 29, 2018 and was approved by the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil via Decree 9.734/19 of March 20, 2019. Thus, in compliance with the deadline set forth in Article 28 the Convention will come into force externally on June 1, 2019, opening Brazil to requests to effect service and granting the Brazilian authorities access to facilitated procedures involving more than 70 countries.

As its official name implies, the Convention aims to facilitate the processing of judicial and extrajudicial documents intended for service, summons or notification in civil or commercial matters, making procedures more efficient and less costly among its more than 70 signatories. In addition, it allows Brazil easier access to other jurisdictions with which the country has no prior civil and commercial cooperation agreements regarding the communication of procedural acts.

It is important to note, however, that Brazil signed the Convention with reservations to its Articles 8 and 10. Consequently, it is not possible to carry out an active or passive summons, subpoena or notification through diplomatic and consular representatives, either by post, by direct request to the judiciary or through the competent officials of the judiciary, authorities, competent persons of the State of origin or other interested parties.

But despite these caveats, what is certain is that the Convention brings significant and impactful changes to all legal and natural persons who have the possibility of receiving communications from abroad or that have interest in sending communications of procedural acts to parties in other countries.

For this reason, our firm maintains teams already familiar with the new procedures of the Convention and is able to guide our clients with certainty in this regard.