Spain Judicial Assistance

Spain is a party to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters.  Complete information on the operation of the Convention, including an interactive online request form are available on the Hague Conference website.  Requests should be completed in duplicate and submitted with two sets of the documents to be served, and translations, directly to Spain’s Central Authority for the Hague Service Convention.  The person in the United States executing the request form should be either an attorney or clerk of court.  The applicant should include the titles attorney at law or clerk of court on the identity and address of applicant and signature/stamp fields.  Spain did not formally objected to service under Article 10 of the Hague Service Convention, and does permit service via postal channels.  For additional information see the Hague Conference Service Convention web page and the Hague Conference Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention.  See also Spain’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Service Convention.

Service on a Foreign State:  See also our Service Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) feature and FSIA Checklist for questions about service on a foreign state, agency or instrumentality.

Service of Documents from Spain in the United States:  See information about service in the United States on the U.S. Central Authority for the Service Convention page of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Service Convention site.

Prosecution Requests:   U.S. federal or state prosecutors should also contact the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice for guidance.

Defense Requests in Criminal Matters:  Criminal defendants or their defense counsel seeking judicial assistance in obtaining evidence or in effecting service of documents abroad in connection with criminal matters may do so via the letters rogatory process.

Spain is a party to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters.  The Spanish Central Authority for the Hague Evidence Convention designated to receive letters of request for the taking of evidence is the Ministry of Justice.  See the Hague Evidence Convention Model Letters of Request for guidance on preparation of the letter of request.  Requests for the compulsion of evidence under the Hague Evidence Convention are transmitted directly from the requesting court or person in the United States to the Spanish Central Authority and do not require transmittal via diplomatic channels.  Letters of Request and accompanying documents should be prepared in duplicate and translated into Spanish.  See the Spain’s Declarations and Reservations regarding the Hague Evidence Convention.  See also Spain’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Hague Evidence Convention.  

Requests from Spain to Obtain Evidence in the United States:  The U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Evidence Convention is the Office of International Judicial Assistance, Civil Division, Department of Justice, 1100 L St., N.W., Room 11006, Washington, D.C. 20530.