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1.This Regulation shall apply in civil and commercial matters where a judicial or extrajudicial document has to be transmitted from one Member State to another for service there. It shall not extend in particular to revenue, customs or administrative matters or to liability of the State for actions or omissions in the exercise of state authority (acta iure imperii).
2.This Regulation shall not apply where the address of the person to be served with the document is not known.
3.In this Regulation, the term ‘Member State’ shall mean the Member States with the exception of Denmark.
1.Each Member State shall designate the public officers, authorities or other persons, hereinafter referred to as ‘transmitting agencies’, competent for the transmission of judicial or extrajudicial documents to be served in another Member State.
2.Each Member State shall designate the public officers, authorities or other persons, hereinafter referred to as ‘receiving agencies’, competent for the receipt of judicial or extrajudicial documents from another Member State.
3.A Member State may designate one transmitting agency and one receiving agency, or one agency to perform both functions. A federal State, a State in which several legal systems apply or a State with autonomous territorial units shall be free to designate more than one such agency. The designation shall have effect for a period of five years and may be renewed at five-year intervals.
4.Each Member State shall provide the Commission with the following information:
(a)the names and addresses of the receiving agencies referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3;
(b)the geographical areas in which they have jurisdiction;
(c)the means of receipt of documents available to them; and
(d)the languages that may be used for the completion of the standard form set out in Annex I.
Member States shall notify the Commission of any subsequent modification of such information.
Each Member State shall designate a central body responsible for:
supplying information to the transmitting agencies;
seeking solutions to any difficulties which may arise during transmission of documents for service;
forwarding, in exceptional cases, at the request of a transmitting agency, a request for service to the competent receiving agency.
A federal State, a State in which several legal systems apply or a State with autonomous territorial units shall be free to designate more than one central body.