Declarations
Reservations
Articles: 2,3,5,6,8,9,10,12,15
Text of the declarations (click here for the original text of the declarations to the Convention made by the Russian Federation):
"In conformity with Article 21 of the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters of 15 November 1965 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) the Russian Federation thus informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Netherlands of the following.
I. The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation is designated as the Central Authority for the purposes of Article 2 of the Convention, as well as the authority competent to receive documents transmitted by consular channels, pursuant to Article 9 of the Convention.
Contact details: click here.
II. The following authorities are competent to forward requests in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention:
- Federal courts (the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation; the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; the supreme courts of Republics, the courts of Krai (Territory) and Oblast (Region), the courts of cities of federal importance (Moscow and St. Petersburg), the courts of Autonomous Oblast and Autonomous Okrug, regional courts, military and specialized courts, which form the system of federal courts of common jurisdiction; The Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, federal arbitration courts of Okrug (arbitration cassation courts), arbitration appellate courts, arbitration courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation, which form the system of federal arbitration courts), constitutional (charter) courts and Justices of the Peace of the subjects of the Russian Federation;
- Federal bodies of executive power and bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation;
- The Procurator's Office of the Russian Federation;
- Civilian registry offices;
- Notaries and other officials authorised to perform notary functions;
- Guardianship and trusteeship bodies;
- Members of advocacy.
III. Pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 5 of the Convention documents to be served within the territory of the Russian Federation shall only be accepted if they have been written in, or translated into, the Russian language. Forms of the request for service, the certificate of service, and the document summary (with standard terms translated into Russian) are attached. Filling the blanks in Russian is most appreciated.
IV. It is highly desirable that documents intended for service upon the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation are transmitted through diplomatic channels, i.e. by Notes Verbales of diplomatic missions of foreign States accredited in the Russian Federation.
V. Pursuant to Article 8 of the Convention, diplomatic and consular agents of foreign States are not permitted to effect service of documents within the territory of the Russian Federation, unless the document is to be served upon a national of the State in which the documents originate.
VI. Service of documents by methods listed in Article 10 of the Convention is not permitted in the Russian Federation.
VII. Certificates of service provided for by Article 6 of the Convention are completed and countersigned by the courts of the Russian Federation which directly execute requests for service of documents.
VIII. The Russian Federation assumes that in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention the service of judicial documents coming from a Contracting State shall not give rise to any payment or reimbursement of taxes or costs for the services rendered by the State addressed. Collection of such costs (with the exception of those provided for by subparagraphs a) and b) of the second paragraph of Article 12) by any Contracting State shall be viewed by the Russian Federation as refusal to uphold the Convention in relation to the Russian Federation, and, consequently, the Russian Federation shall not apply the Convention in relation to this Contracting State.
IX. In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation the courts of the Russian Federation may give judgments pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Convention."
19-07-2016Unofficial translation
Statement on the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
"Reaffirming its firm commitment to respect and fully comply with generally recognised principles and rules of international law, the Russian Federation, with reference to the declaration of Ukraine of 16 October 2015 regarding the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, states the following.
The Russian Federation rejects to the above mentioned declaration of Ukraine and states that it cannot be taken into consideration as it is based on a bad faith and incorrect presentation and interpretation of facts and law.
The declaration of Ukraine regarding "certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine" cannot serve as a justification for non-compliance with its obligations, disregard for humanitarian considerations, refusal or failure to take necessary measures to find practical solutions for issues that have a very serious and direct impact on the ability of residents of those regions to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms provided for by international law.
The declaration of independence of the Republic of Crimea and its voluntary accession to the Russian Federation are the result of a direct and free expression of will by the people of Crimea in accordance with democratic principles, a legitimate form of exercising their right to self-determination given an aided from abroad violent coup d'état in Ukraine which caused rampant radical nationalist elements not hesitating to use terror, intimidation and harassment against both its political opponents and the population of entire regions of Ukraine.
The Russian Federation rejects any attempts to call into question an objective status of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the territories of which are an integral part of the territory of the Russian Federation under its full sovereignty. Thus, the Russian Federation reaffirms that it fully complies with its international obligations under the Convention in relation to this part of its territory".