Solicitors Dublin assist many US attorneys and litigants who need to have service of legal documents effected on defendants in Ireland.
The best and safest way to be sure of good service is to have an Irish solicitor serve the defendant in person.
Whilst it is the case that the Hague Convention provides for service by a number of internationally agreed methods such as
- international mail
- sending the request in the appropriate Hague Convention Request for Service form directly to the Central Authority in Ireland (the Central Office of the High Court)
- instructing an Irish solicitor to handle service in person
only the last option above offers sufficient protection in our experience.
As there is no bilateral agreement between the US and Ireland in respect of recognition in Ireland of judgments obtained in the US our experience has been that the Courts in both the US and Ireland may reject service if challenged by the defendant.
The option of sending your judicial papers together with the Hague Convention Request for Service form is, in theory, a better approach the reality of the situation on the ground is that there are only a limited number of people in Central Office and suitable people around the country to deal with your request.
This poses two problems:
- service, if effected, may be slow due to the growing workload
- if the defendant proves elusive the papers may be returned unserved.
The best and safest approach to take is to instruct a solicitor in Dublin or Ireland to carry out the task for you. The advantages of this method of service are
- local knowledge
- speed
- familiarity with the procedure and the requirements of Central Office.
How to Obtain a Certificate of Service Under the Hague Convention Procedure
Solicitors Dublin can offer a fixed fee service so you know what your costs will be at the outset and you can be sure of a professional service.
You will need to send two copies of
- the Hague Convention Request for Service Form with the appropriate request for service wording and
- the legal papers to be served.
We then check over the papers and see that they are in order and let you know if anything needs to be amended. We will bring the papers and request form to the Central Office of the High Court who will then check that the papers are in order.
Assuming that they are in order either the Master or Deputy Master of the High Court that service is to be effected by the principal solicitor of Solicitors Dublin or their agent for that purpose.
We will then appoint an agent to serve the defendant in person or effect service ourselves. Once service is effected we prepare an Affidavit of Service and have this sworn and returned to Central Office together with one copy of the legal papers, the Return Copy.
The Master or Deputy Master of the High Court will then assess that service was effected in the terms stipulated and if so will then certify that service has been carried out in conformance with the Hague Convention in respect of service of documents in Civil Matters.
Solicitors Dublin then return the Certificate of Service by Fedex or DHL to the client in the United States and is it this certificate that will be your proof of service when you go back into Federal Court in the U.S.
Should you need any assistance with any of this procedure or if you have any queries or need service carried out in Ireland do not hesitate to use the contact form on this site or call and we will revert within 12 hours guaranteed.