SERVICE IN THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES OF FOREIGN JUDICIAL AND EXTRAJUDICIAL DOCUMENTS
Service by mail is not allowed
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a signatory — for the Kingdom in Europe and Aruba, but not the Netherlands Antilles — of the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Nov. 15, 1965 (the ‘Convention’). Because the Kingdom of the Netherlands has not extended the Convention to the Netherlands Antilles, there is no internationally agreed means of service between the United States of America and the Netherlands Antilles. As a consequence, the Netherlands Antilles has not accepted Article 10 of the Convention and has not thereby allowed service by mail.
The Netherlands Antilles require process to be served by the court, and thus do not allow service of process by personal delivery or by any form of mail. Specifically, the Netherlands Antilles court in which an action is filed will review the writ of summons and complaint. If the documents are in order, the Netherlands Antilles court will instruct a court bailiff (‘deurwaarder’) who will, if the defendant is a corporation, serve a copy of the writ of summons and complaint on any of the corporation’s directors or on a suitable person present at the corporation’s offices, together with a certificate of service, stating the time and place of the first court session.
Karel Frielink
Attorney (lawyer) / Partner
