Belize Government accedes to Hague Convention regarding Service of Legal Documents Overseas
Belmopan - 30 July, 2009

The Belize Government has acceded to the Hague Convention with regards to the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents overseas.

The Senate last Tuesday passed a Resolution to this effect following an Instrument of Accession signed by Hon. Wilfred Elrington Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Solicitor General, Oscar Ramjeet said that Belize, is a Party to the Hague Convention, but before documents in civil or commercial matters can be served overseas it was necessary for the country to accede to the Convention in this regard which required the approval of the Senate.

Service of Documents originating in a Contracting State like Belize does not require payment or reimbursement of taxes or costs for services rendered.
Mr. Ramjeet said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will formally deposit the Instrument of Accession at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He added that he has informed the Bar Association of the accession since they might have legal documents to be served overseas.

I recently researched the provisions of the Hague Convention for service of documents on a client who is a European national. The Hague Service provisions are a handy tool for service of certain types of documents on overseas residents. But, one must take special care/caution. Rules differ for different countries. The text of the treaty is self-explanatory, but countries differ on particular methods of service.

Each contracting country must designate a Central Authority which undertakes requests for service of documents. Some members require translation of the document(s) and specialized service (for example, no service by mail or involuntarily).

From the above description, Belize has rules I am obviously not familiar with. In an abundance of caution, check the Articles applicable to the countries that you are dealing with.