Belgium - Central Authority & practical information

Central Authority:

Service Public Fédéral de la Justice
Service de coopération internationale civile

Contact details:

Address: Service Public Fédéral Justice
Service de coopération internationale civile
Boulevard de Waterloo, 115
1000 BRUXELLES
Belgique
Telephone: +32 (2) 542 6511
Fax:  
E-mail: dh1965@just.fgov.be
General website: http://justice.belgium.be/fr/
http://justitie.belgium.be/nl/
Contact person:  
Languages spoken by staff: French, Dutch, English

 

Practical Information:

Forwarding authorities
(Art. 3(1)):
a. the registries and parquets of the various civil, commercial and labour courts;
b. huissiers de justice of the Kingdom.
Methods of service
(Art. 5(1)(2)):
https://e-justice.europa.eu
> Tools for courts and practitioners > Service of documents
Translation requirements
(Art. 5(3)):
Regarding the translation requirements set out in article 5, third paragraph of the Convention, the Government of Belgium wishes to draw attention to the fact that the Belgian Central Authority requires a judicial document that is to be served pursuant to article 5, first paragraph, (a) or (b), to be written in or translated into the official language or one of the official languages of the place where it is to be served (i.e. a Dutch-speaking region, a French-speaking region, the Brussels Capital region or a German-speaking region). The addressee’s postal code can be used to determine the language into which the document should be translated, viz.:
-1000 to 1299 in French or Dutch;
-1300 to 1499 in French;
-1500 to 3999 in Dutch;
-4000 to 4699 in French;
-4700 to 4799 in German;
-4800 to 7999 in French;
-8000 to 9999 in Dutch.
Costs relating to execution of the request for service
(Art. 12):

Service of documents in application of article 5, paragraph 1, a) or b) implies the employment of a judicial officer. The costs thereof must be paid in advance, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention. See declarations.

In particular, Declaration 6 reads:

« The Government of Belgium wishes to draw attention to the fact that any request for service filed in accordance with article 5, first paragraph, (a) or (b), requires the intervention of a judicial officer and that, in accordance with article 12, the applicant must pay €165 (including Belgian VAT) in advance for every document served on and intended for a natural or legal person.

This payment must be made directly through a bank or financial institution in Belgium approved by the applicant’s country; bank charges are to be borne by the applicant. If the VAT of the State of origin is applied to the costs of service under international regulations on value added tax, the judicial officer will reimburse any overpayment.

Once it has received the application, the Belgian Central Authority will inform the applicant of the bank account to which the payment must be made and the file reference number to be quoted in communications. The applicant’s submission of proof of payment to the Belgian Central Authority will enable the effective transmission of the request for service to a judicial officer with territorial jurisdiction.

The above rules concerning the payment amount, its prior transfer and the reimbursement of any overpayment also apply to service effected under article 10 (b) and (c) »

The Belgian Central Authority can also be contacted ahead of the transmission of the request, so that the necessary bank details (which depend on the addressee’s place of residence in Belgium) and transaction reference can be provided. In doing so, the requesting party can add the proof of payment to the service request right away and send everything through the post.

Contacting the Belgian Central Authority for this purpose should preferably be done by e-mail via dh1965@just.fgov.be, with the subject line “new request for bank details and transaction reference”. In the e-mail, mention should be made of the name and address of the addressee in Belgium.

Time for execution of request:  
Judicial officers, officials or other competent persons
(Art. 10(b))
Chambre nationale des Huissiers de Justice
Avenue Henri Jaspar 93
1060 Brussels
Belgium
tel.: +32 (2) 538 0092
fax: +32 (2) 539 4111
Chambre.Nationale@huissiersdejustice.be
Website: http://www.huissiersdejustice.be (FR)
http://www.gerechtsdeurwaarders.be (NL)
Oppositions and declarations
(Art. 21(2)):
Click here to read all the declarations made by Belgium under the Service Convention.
Art. 8(2): Opposition
Art. 10(a): No opposition
Art. 10(b): No opposition
Art. 10(c): No opposition
Art. 15(2): Declaration of applicability
Art. 16(3): Declaration of applicability
Derogatory channels (bilateral or multilateral agreements or internal law permitting other transmission channels)
(Arts. 11, 19, 24 and 25)
Disclaimer:
Information may not be complete or fully updated – please contact the relevant authorities to verify this information.

Supplementary agreements to the Hague Convention of 17 July 1905 and/or of 1 March 1954 were concluded with: France (Paris, 1 March 1956 – Arts 1 to 4); Germany (Brussels, 25 April 1959 – in particular Arts 1 to 3); Luxembourg (Brussels, 11 and 19 March 1974 – Arts 1 to 3); the Netherlands (Brussels, 30 December 1937 and 7 February 1938).

Bilateral convention on judicial co-operation: United Kingdom (London, 21 June 1922 – Arts 2 to 7). This Convention also applies to the relations with Barbados and Malawi.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (Strasbourg, 13 November 2007) - European Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters

Useful links: http://justice.belgium.be/fr/ (FR)
http://justitie.belgium.be/nl/ (NL)
Competent authorities
(Arts 6, 9)
Click here.
Other authorities
(Art. 18)
 

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