The Hague convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters was signed on 15 November 1965. The Hague Service Convention provides for a simpler procedure for the transmission of judicial and extrajudicial documents from one signatory country to the other signatory country. Prior to the enactment of the Hague Convention, the service of process was effected by means of Letter Rogatory.
Letter Rogatory is a formal request sent from the court in the country where proceedings were initiated to a court in another country where the party on whom service was to be made resided or operated a business. This procedure generally involved the transmission of the document to be served from the originating court to the foreign ministry in the state of origin and the foreign ministry in the state of origin forwarded the request to the foreign ministry in the destination state.
The documents were then forwarded by the foreign ministry to the local court wherein the party to be served resided and the local court arranged for service on the party to be served. A certificate of service as a proof of service was issued which had to pass through the same process. India signed the Hague Service Convention on 23rd November, 2006.
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