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IRELAND JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE

DISCLAIMER : THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE TOTALLY ACCURATE IN A PARTICULAR CASE. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE APPROPRIATE FOREIGN AUTHORITIES OR FOREIGN LEGAL COUNSEL.

A. SERVICE OF PROCESS

1. Civil Cases

Ireland ratified the Hague Convention on the service abroad of judicial and extra-judicial documents in civil and commercial matters on June 4, 1994. This has little changed previous practice, as the procedures formerly in place still apply. International service of process by registered mail is allowed in Ireland, but this method will only record delivery to an address and not to a person. Service is effected, in principle, through the Chief State Solicitor, although service by any person is valid. The majority of cases are effected by letters rogatory, the requirements of which are stated below.

Letters Rogatory

Letters rogatory must be forwarded to the American Embassy, Dublin, Ireland by a U.S. Court through the United States Department of State for transmission to an Irish Court through the Legal Section of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). A certified check or international money order in the amount of U.S $500.00 must be submitted with the letters rogatory as a deposit for expenses incurred in executing the request.

Please note that with the letter rogatory request, the Irish also require two copies of the document to be served, along with two summaries of the document(s) to be served. The Irish require that all documents accompanying the request which are not in English or Irish be translated and certified by a qualified translator. Two certified copies of any translations must accompany the letter rogatory. If the requisite number of copies do not accompany the request, it cannot be processed.

Service is normally effected within two to six months. On completion of service, the letters rogatory are returned to the U.S. court via the Department of State.

If letters rogatory are used the documents completed in accordance with the instructions in the Department flyer should be forwarded to:

2. Criminal Cases

Ireland permits the service of criminal subpoenas upon American citizens, and upon Irish citizens and third-country nationals in any manner by private process servers.

B. TAKING OF EVIDENCE

1. Civil and Administrative Cases

Ireland is not a party to any multilateral convention regarding the taking of evidence. There is no special arrangement between Ireland and the United States relating to the taking of evidence.

Nevertheless, voluntary depositions may be taken by U.S. Consular Officers and private attorneys. At such depositions Irish, American and third-country nationals may be deposed.

A deposition can be taken on notice from either party''s attorney or pursuant to a commission issued by a U.S. court. If taken on notice, the notice must state the time, place for taking the deposition and the name and address of each person to be examined. If description sufficient to identify the person or group to which the person belongs (e.g. "Custodian of records of Jones, Inc"). Reasonable written notice must be given to the person from whom the deposition will be taken by the party or attorney proposing to take the deposition with a copy of the opposing party or attorney of record.

A commission is a written authority issued by a court, giving permission to take the testimony of witnesses who cannot appear personally to be examined in the court or body issuing the commission. A commission or notice requesting that a United States consular officer take a deposition should be addressed to "any consul or vice consul of the United States of America at American Embassy, Dublin, Ireland."

Whenever a party to a judicial proceeding in the United States wishes to have a consular officer preside at the taking of a deposition, the following information should be requested:

A) Counsel''s full name, address and telephone number;

B) A brief description of the nature of the case and the purpose of the deposition;

C) Full name and address of the persons to be deposed;

D) Whether the persons are willing to be deposed;

E) Suggested dates for taking the deposition or a period within which the deposition should be taken;

F) Whether the deposition will be based on oral or on questions;

G) Whether a stenographer will be necessary; if so, the requesting party should be advised that it is their responsibility to inform the stenographer of the deposition arrangements. The American Citizen Services Unit (ACS) at the American Embassy, Dublin, may assist in providing a list of local stenographers if requested;

H) Number of people attending the deposition;

I) Whether the consular officer be requested to preside at the entire proceedings or can he/she withdraw, subject to recall, after administering the appropriate oath(s);

J) Who will be responsible for payment of costs incurred?

If the presence of a consular officer is required throughout the deposition proceedings, a check for four hundred and ten dollars is required as a minimum down payment. The fee should be in the form of a certified check or money order payable to the American Embassy, Dublin, Ireland. The fee per hour or fraction thereof for a consular officer''s presence is USD 200.00 and for a foreign service national as stenographer USD 200.00 per hour or fraction thereof.

The deposition fee is not charged if the officer withdraws subject to recall. However, the $35.00 fee prescribed in 22CFR22.1 item 93, will be charged for the officer''s time and away from office service, as well as transportation costs and other incidental expenses.

If the deposition is to be conducted before a U.S. consular officer, American attorneys should make all necessary arrangements with the Embassy in Dublin. It is the responsibility of the attorney to arrange for witness attendance. The consular section can provide resource information regarding court reporters and/or interpreters should they be required.

It is the requesting counsel''s responsibility to make arrangements with witnesses regarding travel fees, witness fees, etc.

Completed documents are sent via registered mail to the court in which the action is pending, or to registered counsel unless the action is a federal criminal case, in which case, the documents are returned to the Department of State for onward transmission.

Unwilling Witnesses

Unwilling witnesses can only be compelled to give testimony in Ireland pursuant to letters rogatory.

Criminal Cases

Voluntary witnesses involved in criminal cases may be deposed in the same manner as described in the section on depositions. Compulsion of testimony can only be achieved by the use of letters rogatory.

Videotape Equipment

If counsel intends to utilize videotape equipment for the purpose of recording the deposition, please note that special customs clearances must be obtained from Irish Customs and Excise, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2, Tel: (353)(1) 679-2777, before such equipment can be taken into Ireland. Without clearances, the equipment may be confiscated. American equipment may need special adapters to function on Irish electrical currents.

Pre-Trial Discovery

Pre-trial discovery of documents is permitted Ireland.

C. ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENTS

Ireland is expected to establish reciprocity in the enforcement of family support obligations with all states of the United States in May of 1996. Under this system, Ireland and the reciprocating states can enforce each others child support obligations, collect the money, and send it to the requestor, whether or not there is an existing order. Orders from states will be recognizable under the laws and procedures of Ireland and vice versa, and if it is not recognizable or no order exists, an order or its equivalent will be obtained. The system will handle both in and out of wedlock children, and a determination of paternity will be made if possible in the circumstances. Ireland and each state will use its own laws and procedures and there will be no means test for legal services, and no charge for legal assistance or the services of government offices or personnel. Enforcement of spousal support even where no child support is involved can be requested, but is not required because all of the states do not provide this service. In Ireland, the official agency for handling requests is the Central Authority for Maintenance Recovery, Department of Equality and Law Reform, 43-49 Mespil Road, Dublin 4. Tel: 353-1-667-0344, fax 353-1-667-0367.

Ireland has acceded to the Hague Convention on the form of wills. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has advised post that it is hoped that this treaty will be ratified before the Irish Government goes into summer recess. Therefore it is probable that procedures necessary to implement the convention will be in place in approximately 10 months.

D. ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN IRELAND:

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