In the Status table of the Evidence Section, Contracting Parties to this Convention that are also Members of the HCCH are in bold and Contracting Parties that are not Members of the HCCH are in italics. In other words, a country does not need to be a Member of the Hague Conference to be party to the Evidence Convention.
When checking the Status table of the Evidence Convention, always keep the following in mind:
1. Check if both the country where the judicial proceedings are taking place (or will take place) and the country where the evidence is to be obtained are listed in the Status table.
2. There are different ways for a country to become a party to the Convention (ratification, accession, succession or continuation).[1] While these differences have no impact on how the Convention operates in a country, they can have an impact on whether or not the Convention applies as between two countries:
a) Status between two countries that have ratified [2] the Convention
Look for the column ‘EIF' and check the date of entry into force of the Convention for both countries - if the Convention is in force in both countries, it may be applied.
b) Status between a country that has ratified the Convention and a country that has acceded to the Convention
Look for the column ‘EIF' and check the date of entry into force of the Convention for both countries - if the Convention is in force in both countries, it may be applied if the country that ratified the Convention has accepted the accession of the other country (note that in this situation, according to the Depositary's practice, it is always for the ratifying State to accept the accession, even if the ratification occurred after the accession). To check the status of acceptances of accessions, see the Chart showing acceptances of accessions and read the instructions (alternatively, in the Status table click on the letter ‘A*' of the acceding country, and see which other countries have accepted the accession and if the Convention is in force as between those other countries and the acceding country).
c) Status between two countries that have acceded to the Convention
Look for the column ‘EIF' and check the date of entry into force of the Convention for both countries - if the Convention is in force in both countries, it may be applied if the country that acceded first has accepted the accession of the other country. To check the status of acceptances of accessions, see the Chart showing acceptances of accessions and read the instructions (alternatively, in the Status table click on the letter ‘A*' of the acceding country, and see which other countries have accepted the accession and if the Convention is in force as between those other countries and the acceding country).
3. Check whether the Convention applies to the entire territory of a country or only to parts of it; to find out, see if there is a link in the columns entitled ‘Ext' and ‘Res/D/N' - if so, click on it and read the relevant information.
[1] Due to the practical realities of State practice, only ratifications and accessions are dealt with here. There are only two cases where a country has become a party to the Convention by succession: the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which succeeded the former Czechoslovakia. Both are to be treated as ratifying countries.
[2] Under Article 37, only the countries that were represented at the Eleventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (i.e. where the Convention was adopted) may sign and ratify the Convention. Countries that have already ratified the Evidence Convention are: Czechoslovakia (see footnote 1), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America. Countries that may still ratify the Convention are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Japan, and the Syrian Arab Republic. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was also represented at the Eleventh Session; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia have all acceded to the Convention.