Council of Europe: European Convention on Information on Foreign Law (STE No.062)

The purpose of the Convention is “the creation of a system of international mutual assistance in order to facilitate the task of judicial authorities in obtaining information on foreign law” (Preamble).

47 Contracting Parties (08/10/2018).

Scope of the Convention (Article 1, paragraph 1):

The Contracting Parties undertake to supply one another “with information on their law and procedure in civil and commercial fields as well as on their judicial organisation”.

Contents of a request for information (Article 4):

• Judicial authority from which the request emanates
• Nature of the case
• Questions on which information concerning the law of the requested State is desired
• Statement of facts
• Copies of documents, where necessary

The request may include questions in fields other than those referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1, where they relate to the principal questions specified in the request.

Content of the reply (Article 7):

• Information in an objective and impartial manner on the law of the requested State

• As appropriate, relevant legal texts and relevant judicial decisions

• Where necessary, any additional documents, such as extracts from doctrinal works and preparatory work

• Possibly, explanatory commentaries

The judicial authority from which the request emanated is not bound by the information given in the reply.