On March 20, 2019, the Brazilian Federal Government enacted Decree No. 9.734/19 ratifying the wording of the Convention on the Delivery Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, signed by Brazil in The Hague on November 15, 1965.
With Brazil's accession, the Convention now has 74 contracting countries and aims to create appropriate means to ensure that judicial and extrajudicial documents that must be served abroad between the signatory countries are communicated quickly to the beneficiary, improving the organization of mutual legal assistance between these signatory countries in order to simplify and expedite the service process.
Currently, service of process in Brazil is carried out under the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory (IAC). However, service under the IAC is arduous for a number of reasons, including (but not limited to): the documents to be served must be duly legalized, the translation must be legalized, the Court Clerk must sign the IAC request forms, and many (perhaps most) officers have never seen an IAC request form. Thus, considerable time is spent educating officers on the IAC procedure.
Furthermore, properly preparing an IAC request for service in Brazil can take several months. Once the documents arrive in Brazil, the Brazilian Central Authority takes 6 to 12 months to process the service and an additional 6 to 12 months to return the proof of service.
Once the citation, summons and notification procedure in Brazil changes to the Hague procedure, it will be cheaper, as legalization will no longer be necessary.
Form preparation will also be more efficient without the need for legalization, and the Court Clerk will no longer be required to file a lengthy application.
The Convention will enter into force in Brazil on June 1, 2019.
