Cross-Border Document Service Procedures in the EU from the Perspective of Italian Practitioners—The Lessons Learnt and the Process of Digitalisation of the Procedure through e-CODEX

Rosanna Amato () and Marco Velicogna ()
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Rosanna Amato: Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems of the National Research Council of Italy, Bologna Branch, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Marco Velicogna: Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems of the National Research Council of Italy, Bologna Branch, 40126 Bologna, Italy

Laws, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-28

Abstract: An effective legal framework for judicial cooperation in the field of the service of documents is a keystone for the effective functioning of the area of freedom, security and justice, as referred to in the Treaty on the EU. In particular, the proper service of a claim to the addressee is a necessary step for starting a proceeding and, simultaneously, an essential requirement for exercising the right of defence. The EU has adopted specific provisions to remodel the traditional channel of documents’ transmission with smoother solutions that assist cross-border judicial proceedings. Despite this, the European service procedure is not that straightforward and can still be very complex for most users, causing additional costs and legal uncertainty. Against this background, this article explores how the cross-border service of documents works in practice. It presents the findings resulting from empirical exploratory research carried out in Italy to assess the concrete use and usability of the European rules adopted to simplify, speed up and reduce the costs of cross-border service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil and commercial matters, also in the view to support a possible digitalisation of the procedure. Building on empirical data, the paper brings to light the existing hiatus between the service procedure ‘on the books’ and the reality of how the relevant provisions are applied daily, so as to provide solid ground for reflecting on the current situation and on the impact that the recast Regulation 2020/1784/EU, which took effect in July 2022, will have to the supranational system of cross-border service of documents, in particular concerning the potential of the use of ICT to support it.

Keywords: service of documents; judicial cooperation in civil matters; cross-border notification; cross-border communication; digitalisation of cross-border procedures; EU law (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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