European discoveries and depositions concierges

Since October 1974, the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters has been in force in Europe. Arrangements to take evidence in Europe for use in civil cases before courts in North America  must therefore be made in accordance with the general provisions of that Convention, and be subject to certain specific provisions established by the European Government concern. ("Lex Celebrationis"). Depositions can be Voluntary, Pretrial, Private (Our specialty), Consular or Judicial, Local  laws of procedure apply if taken outside North-American Territory (Embassy or Consulates included). The Convention provides three means by which evidence may be taken:

A. Deposition before a local judicial authority (Letters  Rogatory).

B. Depositions before a North American diplomatic or Consular officer

C. Depositions before a person commissioned by the court 

D. Private designation of an European Attorney at Law by the parties.

A. Deposition before a Local Judicial Authority by Means of Letter Rogatory (Letters of Request): these are very slow and limited since pretrial depositions or taking of evidence is almost impossible to obtain by this method.  Certified Translators, Interpreters and many other requirements are part of these "Red tape depositions", these  increases the cost tremendously. Attorney's presence is highly recommended, not using an Attorney can cause future legal problems. If you choose this method please keep in mind our services as European Multilingual Attorneys.

By these means, a judicial authority in North America requests the competent judicial authority in the foreign country to obtain evidence or to perform some other judicial act. Such letters rogatory should be addressed by the court  to the Ministry of Justice or Central Authority and should specify:

1. The authority requesting its execution and the authority requested to execute it (name of the court), or the "appropriate judicial authority in Southern Europe";

2. The name and address of the parties to the proceedings, and their representatives;

3. The nature of the proceedings, and all necessary information pertaining to it;

4. The evidence to be obtained

5. The names and addresses of the persons to be examined;

6. The questions to be put to the witnesses, or a statement of the subject matter on which they are to be examined;

7. The documents or other property to be inspected;

8. Whether the evidence is to be given under oath or affirmation, and any specific form of oath that must be used;

9. Whether any special procedure or method should be followed in taking the evidence.

In the absence of special instructions under items (2) and (9), and even with specific instructions the court executing the letters rogatory will follow its own normal procedures "Lex celebrationis", the presence of a foreign Attorney is mandatory and Interpreters might be required also by law.

The court issuing the letters rogatory may ask to be informed of the date and place of the proceedings, in general due to how congested are the Courts in Europe, this act will take time, sometimes 6 to 8 months and parties to the case and their representatives attorneys may be present even in cancellation of the event. Judges of the requesting court may also be present at the proceedings.

There are no fees required for the execution of letters of requests; however, the court may require reimbursement for any fees paid to experts or interpreters, or expenses incurred as a result of use of special procedures requested. This method is slow but is necessary when you need to compel, used mostly in "Criminal law".

D. Depositions before a Diplomatic or Consular officer (Not easily available, short in time, requires deposant to go to the Consular premises, need to match local and foreign holidays, no Video or other service provided, problem when more than a couple of hours is needed).

Evidence may be taken before a diplomatic or North American consular officer (Articles 15 and 16 of the Convention and Title 28 United States Code, Section 2072). Depositions may only be taken by commission issued by the competent court. Depositions on notice for European nationals or third-country nationals living in Europe might not be approved by the respective Ministry of Justice when required. We will assist you and follow up your request to guarantee the "Commission", proposing the court our "neutrality". 

The Ministries of Justice in Europe will not approve requests to take evidence as pre-trial discovery for cases not yet pending in court, voluntary and private depositions have no constrains in this sense, but many laws of Procedure apply to it and in some countries even voluntary depositions in a Consulate require notification to the local government and guarantees for "Lex Celebrationis". Because of this, as qualified Attorneys,  we can take a deposition anywhere in Europe, not necessarily in "foreign territory", but we need to me named "Commissioners of oaths".

The commission should be issued to "any consular officer of the United States assigned to (the city where the Consulate is, or the Embassy)" rather than to any specific name or title of consular officer same rule applies to the local counseling Attorney and when required by the "Lex Celebrationis". In our case you must specify our registration information as European Attorneys, but this varies with the country and we take care of it.

North American consular officers may take depositions from witnesses of  North American nationality on the Embassy or Consulate premises ("Foreign territory"), without special restrictions., the presence of a local Multilingual Attorney is recommended and that of a Translator Interpreter is essential.

Before evidence may be taken from Foreign nationals or third country nationals residing in Europe, authorization or a notification must be obtained or made  in advance to or from the Ministry of Justice in some European countries, not all. The Embassy or Consulate must have all the documents pertaining to the case at least 45 days before the deposition is to be held, often this period elapsed and the deposition is paralyzed. The following specific provisions must be met:

• The deposition must be held on Embassy or Consulate premises. If participants wish to hold the deposition elsewhere, they must explain fully why it cannot be held on Embassy or Consulate premises, and the Ministry of Justice will decide whether such a request can be approved or not. This is mandatory for consular but an exception since in general there is no need to request the Ministry of Justice.
• The deposition must be open to the public, this is a real problem with north American Consulates and controls.
• The date and time of the deposition must be communicated to the Ministry of Justice who can cancel the deposition at any given moment without giving any explanations as well as any local court.
• The witnesses must be summoned by written notice at least 15 days in advance of the deposition date by a local judicial officer. The written notice, sent by the Consulate or Embassy, must include assurances that appearances are voluntary, that the witnesses may be represented and assisted by a lawyer, and that the parties to the case have consented to the deposition. The Embassy or Consulate will request authorization for the deposition from the Ministry of Justice, we suggest our services to assist and represent deposant in the foreign country.

Consular fees: There is no charge for the use of a hearing room or for advance preparations, nevertheless is recommended to use a local Attorney as contact. Effective February 1, 1998, there are statutory fees are in the three digits range an hour for consular assistance at the deposition. The estimated fee must be deposited in advance in the form of a certified check in dollars, payable to the U.S. Treasury. Any balance remaining after the service has been performed will be refunded, and any additional due is payable either upon completion of the deposition, on the spot, or, in the case of long depositions, at regular mutually established intervals.These hazards and cost are eliminated when using our services.

Stenographers and/or Interpreters: Embassies and Consulates are unable to provide the services of stenographers or interpreters, federal law does not obliges to use them when in foreign depositions. The interested parties must arrange for a court stenographer to take down the testimony and transcribe it, unless the answers are of the "Yes" and "No" type, and space is provided on the interrogatories for the witness to write brief responses. If the testimony is to be taken in any language other than English, the interested parties must arrange for a court interpreter. A list of qualified stenographers and interpreters is available from the Embassy or Consulate where the deposition will be held. Today, Legal Videographers are a solution, where the questions are sent in the language of the witness and film, everything is transcribe and translator works at home, reducing the cost tremendously. A modality of this "Video taping" is interactive questions by telephone for a posterior analysis of the responses and the images taken, we provide this service in North American Video format or in Computer format DVD or CD.

Ministry of Justice Authorization: Not in in all cases involving witnesses of Foreign nationality or third-country nationals residing in Europe, the Embassy or Consulate must have the information or documents listed below at least 45 days before the deposition is to be held but it takes time them to respond. This timing is necessary in order to allow sufficient time to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Justice, "Red tape", provide the required advance notice to witness, and finalize internal arrangements for the deposition. All the documents in the following list must be provided, with a translations of each by a certified translator:-

The commission to take the deposition, referring to The Hague Convention, with precise information on:

• The name of the court
• The name of the judge or issuing authority The names of parties  and their representatives
• The names and addresses of all witnesses to be summoned.
• The questions to be put to the witnesses, or a statement of the subject matter on which they are to be examined.
• The name of any of the parties, or their representatives, who plan to attend the deposition.
• The names, address, and telephone numbers of the stenographer and interpreter who have been selected, if any.
• Whether the parties to the case have consented to the deposition, and if not, the reasons for any objection which has been made.

A suggested date for the deposition, which is never respected, if there is a preference, in no case less than 45 days after the Embassy or Consulate receives the above information.

A certified check for the estimated consular fees, made out to "Treasury" is also required.

The Embassy or Consulate will notify all parties planning to attend the deposition of the date set as soon as authorization has been received from the Ministry of Justice.

C. Deposition before a Private Attorney or Commissioner, Voluntary and Pre-trial by agreement of the parties involved: Free of hazards in many countries of Europe.

This is in what we specialized in, a fast and reliable service for the Taking of evidence or depositions abroad without "Red Tape", with low cost and completed ASAP respecting local rules of procedure, taken anywhere, in any location at any time in Europe, without constraints to the willing witness.

Evidence may also be taken by deposition before any competent person commissioned by a court in North America "Commissioner deputy" to administer "Oath".  Us as local legal professional , bilingual Attorneys at Law, are ideal commissioner,  due to the linguistics aspects of international operations. Our law office serve as commissioners for depositions or depositions deputy, making the taking of evidence in Europe a simple legal and fast operation .

Voluntary depositions can be taken in private and without any major constrain than the respect for local laws "Lex Celebrationis" and in the presence of a Local Attorney,depending on the European country and once the parties and the deposant reaches an agreement. Indeed, evidence and depositions can be taken anywhere and when required by local law, we will have the required local professional "To Certify the event" on site to comply with, our Video and Affidavit authenticated by the Consular agent is enough guarantee of the evidence or deposition taken.

Two ways to go depending on many objective and subjective elements:  

1. Authorization from the local Jurisdiction is not necessary for voluntary depositions, Pre Trial or Trail, taken under the local rules of procedure supervised and control by a local legal professional, by using our services  you do not need anything else, we are registered and insured Attorneys at Law offering all required legal guarantees on European territory to complete the taking of evidence or depositions properly.

2. Consular, Please note that the services of a consular officer are not required nor mandatory and that we can substitute him as "Commissioner of oaths" or deputy for depositions once you have obtained this commission from your court. Nonetheless the act can be held in the Consulate in which case it will be entirely  govern by "Common law" avoiding this way a conflict of  law but often requiring extra personnel.

As multilingual Attorneys at law within the European Union we provide a "hybrid system for taking of evidence and depositions", based on the simultaneous application of the  "Lex Fori" and the "Lex loci" and in order to offer the highest possible confidentiality, legality and respect for legal principles under either Jurisdiction and the Hague Convention. Once your have mandate us to take the voluntary depositions, we will do all necessary arrangements to meet your expectations and requirements, we will follow your instructions. Note that it is to the Judging jurisdiction to determine what kind of evidence or deposition is acceptable, by using our services you will not be involved with the foreign legal procedure.