In an earlier post, we looked at the possibility of compelling German third party witnesses to testify. Parties to U.S. litigation can compel third party witnesses under the Hague Evidence Convention to appear in court and testify. However, in executing a letter of request, the German courts apply their domestic rules and procedures. In general, the judge will treat the taking of evidence not any different from hearing a witness in a domestic civil litigation – and this is very different from a common law approach. Read More
Tag: Hague Evidence Convention
Pre-Trial Discovery under the Hague Evidence Convention: Is Germany’s Position Softening?
A recent Frankfurt case raises this issue: Germany has declared ”that it will not execute Letters of Request issued for the purpose of obtaining pre-trial discovery of documents as known in Common Law countries”, in accordance with Art. 23 of the Hague Convention on Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters. This notwithstanding, the President of the Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Präsident des Oberlandesgerichts), accepted a request for pre-trial discovery of documents from California.
Compelling German Third-party Witnesses to Testify in US Litigation
In U.S.-German disputes, the question often arises whether a party in U.S.litigation can compel a third-party witness who is a German resident and does not volunteer to testify to render testimony as part of the pre-trial deposition discovery in the U.S.proceedings. In short, the answer is yes. Read More