Letter of request for service of document (Rule 151(2)) (Form 13)

Rules 147-153 of the Supreme Court Rules 2000 (Tas) govern service of a document for a Supreme Court proceeding in a Convention country (a foreign country with which a civil procedure convention, other than the Hague Service Convention, applies) or in another non-Hague country the Attorney-General specifies (r 147(2)). The applicant lodges the document, any translation and copies with the Principal Registrar and files a request and undertaking to pay the expenses (rr 148-150). The Principal Registrar seals the document and sends it to the Attorney-General for transmission with a letter of request (r 151(1)), which must be in the prescribed form (r 151(2)). Form 13 is that letter. Service in a Hague Convention country is dealt with separately under Part 38A, and New Zealand proceedings under the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act are excluded (r 147(3)).

When you need it

• You need a document in a Tasmanian Supreme Court proceeding served on someone in a foreign country that is a Convention country, or a country specified by the Attorney-General.
• The country is not a party to the Hague Service Convention. For Hague countries use the Part 38A procedure and its forms.
• Service is not on a person in New Zealand under the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act.

1. 1

   Address the foreign authority

   Insert the competent judicial authority and the country.

2. 2

   Describe the proceeding

   Name the plaintiff (or applicant) and defendant (or respondent), and give short particulars of the claim.

3. 3

   Identify the document and the person to be served

   Describe the document, name the person to be served, their nationality and domicile or residence, and their address.

4. 4

   Request service and list enclosures

   Complete the request paragraph describing the document and any translation sent with it, and the name and address for service.

5. 5

   Leave the signature for the Registrar

   The letter is signed and dated by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. The form already records that arrangements have been made for reimbursement of expenses.

• Lodge with the Principal Registrar the document to be served, a translation into an official language of the country (unless English is one), copies of each, any further copies directed, and any request for a special manner of service (r 148(2)(a)).
• A translation must bear the translator's certificate, in that language, that it is accurate (r 149).
• File a copy of each document and a request and undertaking: the request for transmission, a reference to any Convention relied on, and an undertaking by the practitioner (or the applicant in person) to pay the expenses (rr 148(2)(b), 150(1)). Security for those expenses may be required (r 150(2)).
• If the account of expenses is not paid within 14 days after it is delivered, the Court may order payment and stay your claim until it is paid (r 153).

• Check first whether the destination country is a Hague Convention country. That decides which procedure and forms apply.
• If you are serving originating process outside Australia, check whether leave is needed under rules 147A-147H.
• A certificate of service from the foreign authority or an Australian consular authority, once filed, is evidence of service (r 152).