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EmailJudicial Assistance Jordan
DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR RELATING TO THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE TOTALLY ACCURATE IN A PARTICULAR CASE. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN COUNSEL.
PROVISO: This flyer seeks only to provide information; it is not an opinion on any aspect of U.S., foreign, or international law. The U.S. Department of State does not intend by the contents of this flyer to take a position on any aspect of any pending litigation .
APPLICABLE TREATIES OR OTHER AGREEMENTS
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 21 UST 77; 596 UNTS 261;
TIAS 6820 (Article 5);
Bilateral Consular Convention:
SERVICE OF PROCESS
General: Jordan is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters nor is Jordan a signatory to any international convention pertaining to judicial assistance. Service of process in Jordan can be accomplished by a variety of methods. If enforcement of a U.S. judgment in the foreign country is foreseen, it may be prudent to consult local foreign legal counsel to ascertain if a particular method of service must be used for service to be considered valid in the foreign jurisdiction.
Personal service by an agent, generally a Jordanian attorney or a notary public, provided the deponent properly acknowledges service and a U.S. court will accept this procedure. Lists of Jordanian attorneys are available from the Department of State, Office of American Citizens Services and directly from the U.S. Embassy in Amman. Proof of service would be in the form of an affidavit executed before a U.S. consular officer by the individual effecting service.
Through a Jordanian court: Jordanian law provides for service of legal process through a court. A U.S. court may formally undertake a Jordanian court to do this.
Jordanian law also provides for service of legal process through a notary public. A private attorney may serve process, provided the deponent properly acknowledges service and the U.S. court will accept this procedure.
Service by registered mail is not sufficient proof of legal process.
Service Pursuant to a Letter Rogatory: The use of letters rogatory to effect service of process in Jordan is not generally encouraged since it can take more than a year to accomplish and local Jordanian authorities may be unfamiliar with the procedure and therefore reluctant to execute such a request. It may be necessary to consult local foreign counsel on this matter.
Letters rogatory are transmitted to the recipient through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by Diplomatic Note. The rogatory letter for action in Jordan must be translated into Arabic and served on the deponent by the competent Jordanian court. The rogatory letter should be legalized by the competent authorities in the place of its issue and authenticated by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan. This documentation will ultimately have to be processed in Jordan for subsequent service on the deponent or on the official authority before whom the deposition is to be made. Although there is no specific requirement, letters rogatory should be triple certified.
See our general service of process flyer for more information.
OBTAINING EVIDENCE
Voluntary Depositions of Willing Witnesses: Depositions of willing witnesses may be conducted in Jordan regardless of the nationality of the witness if they are to be used in a foreign country. If they are to be used before Jordanian courts, the deponent should appear personally in court to confirm his deposition under oath. Local attorneys and foreign attorneys can take depositions. In the past, the Embassy has assisted private U.S. attorneys taking deposition by allowing them to use Embassy space and swearing in the participants. Depositions can take place at any location, including a hotel, office or the U.S. Embassy. The procedure for taking depositions does not vary in civil, commercial, administrative, domestic relations or criminal cases if the deposition is to be used in a court the United States. This procedure cannot be used for criminal cases in Jordanian courts, however. Commercial stenographer services are not available in Jordan for the purpose of transcribing the testimony of witnesses in a voluntary deposition. This is left up to the parties involved.
Consular Assistance: Services of the U.S. consular officer must be scheduled in advance in connection with the taking of depositions. If the services of a U.S. consular officer are required to administer oaths to the witnesses, stenographer and any interpreter outside the Embassy, additional fees are charged for such services. For additional information, including details concerning consular fees, see the Office of American Citizens Service''s information flyer Obtaining Evidence Abroad .
Host Country Clearance Required for U.S. Federal, State or Local Government Participants: If a U.S., state or local Government official is to participate in a deposition before a U.S. consular officer, special host country clearance must be obtained for the travel. Such Government officials should contact the Office of American Citizens Services, Department of State, (202) 647-5226, fax (202) 647-2835 to initiate the process of obtaining the host country clearance. A copy of the host country clearance questionnaire will be faxed to you. It will also be available via our Internet home page and autofax service. See also U.S. Attorney’s Manual (USAM) Title 9, Sections 2.151 and 13.534, and Title 3, Section 3.730.
COMPULSION OF EVIDENCE: Testimony of an unwilling witness and other evidence may be compelled in Jordan pursuant to a letter rogatory. There are no means to obtain a court order to compel the deponent in a rogatory letter to give evidence except in a court of law. The judge decides if such compulsion is not against a Jordanian public order and if the judge so decides, the deponent has to comply, or he may be found to be in contempt of court. There is no court method for compelling testimony before someone commissioned to do so. Letters rogatory are transmitted to the recipient through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the diplomatic channel. For further information about the letters rogatory process, see the Office of American Citizens Service''s information flyer, Preparation of Letters Rogatory . Requesting counsel should be aware that when letters rogatory are executed by foreign courts which compel the appearance of a witness to answer written interrogatories, the evidence is taken in accordance with the rules of the foreign court. In most cases an American attorney will not be permitted to participate in such a proceeding. Occasionally a foreign attorney may be permitted to attend such a proceeding and even to put forth additional questions to the witness. Not all foreign countries utilize the services of court reporters or routinely provide verbatim transcripts. Sometimes the presiding judge will dictate his recollection of the witness''s responses to his secretary. Generally letters rogatory worldwide, including those sent to the United States, take from six months to a year to execute.
TRANSLATIONS: Letters rogatory should be translated into Arabic .
AUTHENTICATION: Triple certification of letters rogatory is recommended but not required.
U.S. CONSULAR FEES: Effective June 1, 2002, there is a $650.00 consular fee for processing letters rogatory (See Federal Register, May 16, 2002,
Volume 67, Number 95, Rules and Regulations, Pages 34831-34838; 22 CFR 22.1, item 51). Counsel are requested to submit a certified
bank check in the amount of $650.00 payable to the U.S. Embassy Amman. Corporate or personal checks are not acceptable. Foreign
authorities may also charge a fee. Counsel will be notified by the U.S. embassy and/or the Office of American Citizens Services
and Crisis Management in the Department of State if the Embassy is advised by foreign authorities of any applicable local
fees. There is no consular fee for letters rogatory on behalf of federal, state or local government officials. (See 22 CFR
22.1, item 53). If the letter rogatory requests compulsion of evidence from more than one witness or service of process on
more than one person, multiple fees may be charged if more than one foreign court is required to execute the request due to
multiple jurisdictions.
U.S. EMBASSY LOCATION: U.S. Embassy, Consular Section, American Citizens Services, Abdoun, P.O. Box 354, Amman. The telephone number is [962] (6) 592-0101 and the fax number is 592-4102. The after-hours emergency telephone number is [962] (6) 592-0120. The Embassy''s web site is http://www.usembassy-amman.org.jo.
LISTS OF FOREIGN ATTORNEYS: Lists of foreign attorneys willing to represent U.S. citizens have been prepared by the U.S. Embassy may be obtained from the Department of State, Office of American Citizen Services or directly from the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION : The Office of American Citizens Services has several general information flyers on international judicial assistance . These topics include:
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These flyers are available on the Internet via the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs home page under Judicial Assistance .
Treaty Databases on the Internet:
United States Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser, Treaty Affairs, List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States In Force: http://www.state.gov/www/global/legal_affairs/tifindex.html .
United Nations (UN): Databases/Treaties
Council of Europe (COE): under Texts/Treaties
Organization of American States (OAS): under Documents/Treaties and Conventions.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: If you have further questions, contact the Office of American Citizens Services, CA/OCS/ACS, Department of State, Room 48l7 N.S., Washington, D.C. 20520, tel: (202) 647-5226.
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