Silver Service
Service in England and Wales further to Article 10 of the Hague Service Convention
Advantages
- Service recognised by Hague Convention
- Less expensive than gold service
- Slightly quicker than gold service
Disadvantages
- No Hague Certificate
- More open to scrutiny
Procedure
Unlike our Article 5 gold service, where the formal Hague Request must come from an “authority or judicial officer”, for our Article 10 silver service the instructions can come from “judicial officers, officials, or other competent persons … (or a) … person interested in a judicial proceeding”. Article 10 makes it clear that the Convention does not interfere with the ability of such a person to effect service directly via a “competent person” in the UK, and the UK Government has designated that Solicitors of the Senior Courts of England & Wales – such as Graham Bridgman – are competent persons within the meaning of the Convention (and, further, the UK Central Authority has made it clear that a private process server is not a competent person for the purposes of Article 10).
We therefore offer service upon the instructions of Graham Bridgman in compliance with Article 10, our silver service. Thus this is not directly Hague Service but is service recognised by the Convention.
The procedure results in a proof of service detailing the date and method of service and showing compliance with Article 10 of the Hague Service Convention. This proof can take the form of a witness statement of service (having the same status as a declaration under penalty of perjury), or a sworn affidavit of service.
We shall provide you with the obligatory wording for your formal letter of instruction and help you with the extra form, entitled “Summary”, that needs to be added to the service papers.
Other than that, the procedure is the same as for our bronze service.
Cost
Please contact us with full details for advice and a specific quotation.