Netherlands Process Service

Netherlands Process service, also known as "service of process,” is the procedure employed to give appropriate notice of initial legal action to another party (such as a defendant), court, or administrative body to exercise jurisdiction over that person to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body, or other tribunals. Notice is furnished by delivering a set of court documents (called "process") to the person to be served; a process server performs Netherlands process service.

Netherlands PROCESS SERVERs

Netherlands process servers serve civil and commercial matters pursuant to the Hague Service Convention, a multilateral treaty adopted in Hague, Netherlands, on November 15, 1965, by member states of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.  It came into existence to give litigants a reliable and efficient means of serving the documents on parties living, operating, or based in another country. The convention's provisions apply to the service of process in civil and commercial matters but not criminal matters. Also, the Convention shall not apply if the address of the person served with the document is unknown.

Method of Service

Article 5(1)(a) Service 

If the documents are to be served in the Court District of The Hague, the Central Authority sends them to a randomly selected bailiff, requesting to serve the documents on the person concerned. Suppose documents are to be served in another court district. In that case, the Central Authority sends them to the designated Public Prosecutor’s Office / International Legal Assistance Center (IRC) and requests service by a bailiff.

The Public Prosecutor will serve by way of police; also, in practice, done via postal service - if no one is there, a message is left stating where the document can be collected.

Article 5(2) Service

Regarding the authorities involved, informal delivery works the same way as formal service (see above). The explanatory memorandum to the Implementation Act states that, as a rule, a local police officer in the Court District concerned should be deployed by the Public Prosecutor for an issue in Dutch. However, in practice, there is no real uniformity. Depending on where the documents are to be served, they are sometimes served via postal channels, by the police, or by a member of the "documents service brigade."

Service by a particular method Article 5(1)(b) Service

A special request has never been received.

For more information on the service of documents, see European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters – Service of documents – The Netherlands.

Translation Requirements

No translation is required. However, a translation of the summary is desirable. There are no agreements with other countries.

Timeline for Execution

An average of two to three months.

Procedure

The Hague Service Convention established a simpler means for parties to effect service in other contracting states. Under the convention, each contracting state must designate a central authority to accept incoming service requests. A judicial officer competent to serve process in the state of origin is permitted to send a service request directly to the central authority of the state where service is to be made. Upon receiving the request, the central authority in the receiving state arranges for service in a manner permitted within the receiving state, typically through a local court. Once service is effected, the central authority sends a certificate of service to the judicial officer who made the request.

The main benefits of the Hague Service Convention over letters rogatory are that it is faster (requests generally take two to four months rather than six months to one year) and uses standardized forms that authorities should recognize in other states. It is cheaper (in most cases).

Alternate Methods of Service

The Hague Convention provides various modes of process service of documents, such as by postal channel or by diplomatic/consular agents, judicial officers, officials, or other competent persons. These provisions are covered under Articles 8 to 10 and may or not be allowed by member countries as a valid mode of serving the documents in their territory. The method of serving the documents through the Central Agency (Article 5) is not optional but is binding on all the member countries. The services done by the Central Agency usually take a long time: 4 to 12 months. The convention relieves the litigants if they have not received a certificate of service or delivery from the Central Agency even after waiting for six months. In such cases, the Court may give its judgment if it considers that a reasonable time has elapsed. Also, the court may issue a provisional order or protective measure in case of urgency, even before the six-month waiting period.

Our Process

Documents can be faxed at (800) 296-0115, emailed to ps@undisputedlegal.com, or uploaded to our website. We do require prepayment and accept all major credit and debit cards. Once payment is processed, your sales receipt is immediately emailed for your records.

Drop-offs must call and make an appointment first to be added to building security to permit access to our office. Documents for service must be in a sealed envelope with payment in the form of a money order or attorney check (WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH) payable to UNDISPUTED LEGAL INC.; Our receptionist will receive all documents.

OFFICE LOCATIONS

New York: (212) 203-8001 – 590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, New York 10022
Brooklyn: (347) 983-5436 – 300 Cadman Plaza West, 12th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201
Queens: (646) 357-3005 – 118-35 Queens Blvd, Suite 400, Forest Hills, New York 11375
Long Island: (516) 208-4577 – 626 RXR Plaza, 6th Floor, Uniondale, New York 11556
Westchester: (914) 414-0877 – 50 Main Street, 10th Floor, White Plains, New York 10606
Connecticut: (203) 489-2940 – 500 West Putnam Avenue, Suite 400, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
New Jersey: (201) 630-0114 - 101 Hudson Street, 21 Floor, Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Washington DC: (202) 655-4450 - 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Suite 300, Washington DC 20004

for assistance serving legal papers in Netherlands

Simply pick up the phone and call Toll Free (800) 774-6922 or click the service you want to purchase. Our dedicated team of professionals is ready to assist you. We can handle all your Netherlands process service needs; no job is too small or too large!

Contact us for more information about our process-serving agency. We are ready to provide service of process to all our clients globally from our offices in New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

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