SERVICE OF PROCESS IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
This is done by a bailiff
What is the procedure for the service of foreign proceedings under Netherlands Antilles procedural law for a company having its registered address in, for instance Curaçao?
Under Netherlands Antilles procedural law, the service of proceedings on a Netherlands Antilles legal person will be done by means of a bailiff’s notification. This notification shall be served (i) on the person or residence of the president of the management board of the company or (ii) on the business and/or registered address of the company.
Netherlands Antilles procedural law does not provide for the possibility to serve the proceedings on the address of the company’s lawyer.
In our view the required language of documents of proceedings before, for instance an English court, to be served on a defendant in the Netherlands Antilles, would, being based on English law, have to be in English. However, the official language in the Netherlands Antilles is Dutch. English is not an official language on Curacao. Therefore, insofar as this is not already required under English law, I would advise attaching a certified Dutch translation of the official court document in which the company involved is called to appear before the English court, to the documents to be served.
Karel Frielink
Attorney (Lawyer) / Partner
