Cross-border service—is permission required to serve a defendant who is outside England and Wales?

Published by a ��˾��ҹ�� Dispute Resolution expert

Practice notes

Cross-border service—is permission required to serve a defendant who is outside England and Wales?

Published by a ��˾��ҹ�� Dispute Resolution expert

Practice notes

The general rule is that documents must be served within the Jurisdiction, ie England and Wales (CPR 6.6(1) and CPR 2.3). There is no absolute right to serve a Claim form out of the jurisdiction.

However, if a Defendant is located outside England and Wales, consideration will need to be given as to whether service can take place in England and Wales or whether service in another jurisdiction will be required, and, if so, whether the court’s permission will be required to enable valid service. The ability of a claimant to serve a claim form on the defendant without the courts’ permission is based on the courts of England and Wales having jurisdiction to determine the dispute between the parties. The issues of service and jurisdiction are therefore inextricably interlinked. Permission will not be required in those cases in which the claimant, itself, has determined that the court has jurisdiction to determine the dispute because the criteria in either CPR 6.32 or CPR 6.33 are met. Note: CPR 6.33(1),

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Serving definition

What does Serving mean?

The word serving can mean different things. The meaning of the word was considered in Ageas (UK) Ltd v Kwik-Fit (GB) Ltd [2013] EWHC 3271 (QB) at para [54] where the judge noted that the ‘expression is one which can bear a number of different and conflicting meanings covering points in time before, on, and after receipt. For instance it can mean dispatch in the sense that a document is “served” from the point in time of its dispatch or sending and therefore prior to its receipt.’

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