138
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 7

The request for service shall state the full names and descriptions of the parties, the full names, address and description of the recipient, and the nature of the document to be served, and shall enclose the documents (originals or copies) to be served in duplicate.

(c) The document to be served shall either be drawn up in the language of the country in which it is to be served, or be accompanied by a translation in such language in duplicate. Such translation shall be certified as correct by a Consular Officer of the High Contracting Party from whose territory the document emanates.

(d) Requests for service shall be addressed and sent:—
In Spain to the President of the competent Territorial Court;
In England to the Senior Master of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

If the authority to whom a request for service has been sent is not competent to execute it, such authority shall of his own motion transmit the document to the competent authority of his own country.

(e) Service shall be effected by the competent authority of the country where the document is to be served, who shall serve the document in the manner prescribed by the municipal law of such country for the service of similar documents, except that, if a wish for some special manner of service is expressed in the request for service, such manner of service shall be followed in so far as it is not incompatible with the law of that country.

(f) The execution of the request for service duly made in accordance with the preceding provisions of this Article shall not be refused unless (1) the authenticity of the request for service is not established, or (2) the High Contracting Party in whose territory it is to be effected considers that his sovereignty or safety would be compromised thereby.

(g) The authority by whom the request for service is executed shall furnish a certificate proving the service or explaining the reason which has prevented such service, and setting forth the fact, the manner and the date of such service or attempted service, and shall send the said certificate to the Consular Officer by whom the request for service was made. The certificate of service or of attempted service shall be placed on one of the duplicates or attached thereto.

ARTICLE 4.

(a) Service may be effected without any request to or intervention of the authorities of the country where it is effected:—
(1) By a Consular Officer of the High Contracting Party from whose territory the document emanates:
(2) By an agent appointed for the purpose either by the judicial authority by whom service of the document is required or by the party on whose application the document was issued:
but in neither of these cases can any measures of compulsion be employed.

(b) All documents served in the manner provided in the preceding paragraph shall, unless the recipient is a subject of the High Contracting Party from whose territory the document to be served emanates, either be drawn up in the language of the country in which service is to be effected or accompanied by a translation into such language, certified as correct, as prescribed in Article 3 (c).

ARTICLE 5.

Nothing in this Convention shall render illegal or inadmissible the service in the territory of one High Contracting Party of documents drawn up in the territory of the other High Contracting Party by any one of the following methods of service in any case where such method is recognized as valid by the law of the country from which the documents emanate:—
(a) By the competent officials or officers of the country where they are to be served acting directly at the request of the parties concerned in cases where such officials or officers are not prohibited from so acting by the law of that country;
(b) Through postal channels; or
(c) By any other mode of service which is not illegal under the law existing at the time of service in the country where it is to be effected.

ARTICLE 6.

(a) In any case where documents have been served in accordance with the provisions of Article 3, the High Contracting Party, by whose Consular Officer the request for service is addressed, shall pay to the other High Contracting Party any charges and expenses which are payable under the law or regulations in force in the country where the service is effected to the persons employed to effect service, and any charges and expenses incurred in effecting service in a special manner. These charges and expenses shall not exceed such as are usually allowed in the Courts of that country.

(b) Repayment of these charges and expenses shall be claimed by the competent authority by whom the service has been effected from the Consular Officer by whom the request was addressed when sending to him the certificate provided for in Article 3 (g).

(c) Except as provided above, no fees of any description shall be payable by one High Contracting Party to the other in respect of the service of any documents.

III.—TAKING OF EVIDENCE.

ARTICLE 7.

When a judicial authority in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties requires that evidence should be taken in the territory of the other High Contracting Party, such evidence may be taken in any one of the ways prescribed in Articles 8, 9, and 10.

ARTICLE 8.

(a) The judicial authority by whom the evidence is required may, in accordance with the provisions of its law, address itself by means of “Letters of Request” to the competent authority of the country where the evidence is to be taken, requesting such authority to take the evidence.

(b) The “Letters of Request” shall be drawn up in the language of the country where the evidence is to be taken, or be accompanied by a translation in such language. Such translation shall be certified as correct by a Consular Officer of the High Contracting Party from whose judicial authority the request emanates. The “Letters of Request” shall state the nature of the proceedings for which the evidence is required, the full names and descriptions of the parties thereto, and the full names, addresses, and descriptions of the witnesses. They shall also either be accompanied by a list of interrogatories to be put to the witness or witnesses and a translation thereof certified as correct in the manner heretofore provided or, if this procedure is recognized by the law of the country from which the letters emanate, request the competent authority to allow such questions to be asked viva voce as the parties or their representatives shall desire to ask.

(c) The “Letters of Request” shall be transmitted—
In England by a Spanish Consular Officer to the Senior Master of the Supreme Court of Judicature;
In Spain by a British Consular Officer to the President of the competent Territorial Court.

In case the authority to whom “Letters of Request” are transmitted is not competent to execute them, the “Letters of Request” shall be forwarded without any further request to the competent authority of his own country.

(d) The competent authority to whom the “Letters of Request” are transmitted or forwarded shall give effect thereto and obtain the evidence required by the use of the same compulsory measures and the same procedure as are employed in the execution of a commission or order emanating from the authorities of his own country, except that if a wish that some special procedure should be followed is expressed in the “Letters of Request” such special procedure shall be followed in so far as it is not incompatible with the law of the country where the evidence is to be taken.

(e) The Consular Officer by whom the “Letters of Request” are transmitted, shall, if he so desires, be informed of the date and place where the proceedings will take place, in order that he may inform the interested party or parties who shall be permitted to be present in person or to be represented if they so desire.

(f) The execution of the “Letters of Request” can only be refused—
(1) If the authenticity of the “Letters of Request” is not established.
(2) If in the country where the evidence is to be taken the execution of the “Letters of Request” in question does not fall within the functions of the judiciary.
(3) If the High Contracting Party in whose territory the evidence is to be taken considers that his sovereignty or safety would be compromised thereby.

(g) In every instance where the “Letters of Request” are not executed by the authority to whom they are addressed, the latter will at once inform the Consular Officer by whom they were transmitted, stating the grounds on which the execution of the “Letters of Request” has been refused, or the judicial authority to whom they have been forwarded.

ARTICLE 9.

(a) If the law of the country where the evidence is to be taken authorizes such procedure, the judicial authority by whom the evidence is required may, in the “Letters of