Reservations
Articles: 26
"Todas las comunicaciones para la Autoridad Central deben estar redactadas en idioma español.
La República de Venezuela no está obligada a asumir ninguno de los gastos mencionados en el párrafo tercero del Artículo 26."*
(Translation)
All communications to the Central Authority should be drawn up in the Spanish language.*
The Republic of Venezuela is not bound to assume any costs referred to in Article 26, paragraph 3.**
* On 26 February 1997 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands received a Note dated 24 February 1997 from the Embassy of Finland concerning the reservations made by the Republic of Venezuela. The Note reads as follows:
"(...) The Government of Finland are unable to accept these reservations in so far as they are incompatible with Article 24, paragraph 2, Article 26, paragraph 3, and Article 42, paragraph 1, of the Convention.
According to Article 24, paragraph 1, any application, communication or other document sent to the Central Authority shall be in the original language, and shall be accompanied by a translation into the official language or one of the official languages of the requested State or, where that is not feasible, a translation into French or English.
Under Article 24, paragraph 2, a Contracting State may, by making a reservation, object the use of either French or English, but not both, in any application, communication or other document sent to its Central Authority. Having regard to the wording and the purpose of this provision the Finnish Government consider that the reservation made by the Republic of Venezuela, which excludes the use of both French and English languages in cases where it is not feasible to obtain a translation of the document into Spanish, is not allowed under Article 24, paragraph 2, and Article 42, paragraph 1.
In addition, the reservation seems to require that all communications, even the original documents transmitted to the Venezuelan Central Authority, shall be in the Spanish language, whereas under Article 24, paragraph 1, the documents shall be in the original language and, in addition, accompanied by a translation into the official language or official languages of the State addressed (or, where that, i.e. translation, is not feasible, into French or English). Such a requirement, implicit in the reservation, is not only incompatible with Article 24 but also in most cases impossible to comply with in cases where the original documents which under paragraph 1 shall be sent to the State addressed, have not been drawn up in Spanish.
According to Article 26, paragraph 3, a Contracting State may make a reservation not to be bound to assume any costs referred to in paragraph 2 resulting from the participation of legal counsel or advisers or from court proceedings, except insofar as those costs may be covered by its system of legal aid and advice. However, the reservation by the Republic of Venezuela seems to indicate that in the application of the Convention Venezuela would not assume any costs referred to above, under any circumstances and not even in cases where those costs might be covered by the Venezuelan system of legal aid and advice, if available.
The Finnish Government consider that such a reservation is incompatible with Article 26, paragraph 3, and Article 42, paragraph 1, of the Convention.
In conclusion, the Finnish Government declare that in relation to Finland these reservations may not be invoked by the authorities of the Republic of Venezuela in so far as this would be incompatible with the aforementioned provisions of the Convention.
This declaration is not to be interpreted as preventing the entry into force of the Convention between Finland and the Republic of Venezuela."
** On 15 April 1997 the Government of Germany has deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the following declaration concerning this reservation:
(Translation)
The reservation made by Venezuela is taken by the Federal Government to mean that persons eligible for legal aid who enter an application pursuant to the above-mentioned Convention may invoke the provisions laid down in the Venezuelan code of civil procedure as generally applicable to such persons, namely that free access to the courts and to legal counsel is also guaranteed in respect of proceedings pursuant to the Convention.