Legal Definitions - letters rogatory

Letters rogatory are a formal request from a court in one country to a court in another country, asking for judicial assistance. This mechanism is used when a legal case in one country requires an action to be taken within the jurisdiction of another country's courts. Essentially, it's a diplomatic channel between judicial systems to ensure justice can proceed across international borders, especially when evidence or parties are located abroad.

Common reasons for issuing letters rogatory include:

• Obtaining testimony from a witness who resides in the foreign country.
• Requesting the production of documents or other evidence located in the foreign country.
• Arranging for the formal delivery of legal documents (known as "service of process") to a party living in the foreign country.

Here are some examples of how letters rogatory might be used:

• Example 1: Obtaining Witness Testimony

  Imagine a civil lawsuit in the United Kingdom where a key witness, whose testimony is crucial for the case, has permanently moved to Brazil. The UK court cannot directly compel a Brazilian resident to appear in a UK court or even to provide testimony in Brazil under UK law. In this situation, the UK court would issue letters rogatory to a Brazilian court. The request would ask the Brazilian court to arrange for the witness's testimony to be taken in Brazil, following Brazilian legal procedures, and then transmit a transcript of that testimony back to the UK court for use in the ongoing lawsuit.

• Example 2: Securing Financial Documents

  Consider a fraud investigation in Canada where investigators believe critical financial records related to the alleged crime are held by a bank located in a different country, such as Switzerland. Canadian authorities cannot directly order a Swiss bank to release these documents due to national sovereignty. Instead, a Canadian court would send letters rogatory to a Swiss court. This formal request would ask the Swiss judicial system to compel the bank to produce the relevant financial records, which would then be transmitted to the Canadian court to aid in the investigation and prosecution.

• Example 3: Serving Legal Papers in a Divorce Case

  Suppose a divorce petition is filed in the United States, but one of the spouses has moved to Mexico and needs to be officially notified of the divorce proceedings. For the divorce to proceed legally, the spouse in Mexico must be formally "served" with the legal documents. U.S. courts typically cannot directly serve legal documents in Mexico. Therefore, the U.S. court would issue letters rogatory to a Mexican court, requesting that the Mexican court arrange for the divorce papers to be properly served on the spouse residing in Mexico, in accordance with Mexican legal procedures, ensuring they are officially informed of the legal action.