Requests for international judicial assistance are executed either on the basis of treaty obligations assumed by the United States (see, e.g., the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters, TIAS 7444, 23 UST 2555, 847 U.N.T.S. 231) or letters rogatory submitted through diplomatic channels on the basis of international comity and courtesy, and reciprocity. Requests for international judicial assistance from foreign tribunals in civil matters will be referred to United States Attorneys by the Office of International Judicial Assistance, Foreign Litigation, Civil Division. See 28 C.F.R. § 0.49. United States Attorneys should not attempt to execute foreign evidence requests in civil cases without first contacting the Office of International Judicial Assistance.

United States Attorneys may execute requests for evidence on a voluntary basis or may need to compel the evidence. Section 1782 of Title 28 authorizes the United States district court for the district in which a person resides or is found to order such person to give his/her testimony or to produce documents or other things for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal. Given the increasing number of evidence requests that the United States sends abroad, often with short discovery deadlines, expeditious handling of these evidence requests by United States Attorneys may, as a matter of reciprocity, encourage similar treatment by foreign authorities.

In addition to processing evidence requests, the Office of International Judicial Assistance also performs the functions of the “Central Authority” under the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, TIAS 6638, 20 U.S.T. 361, 658 U.N.T.S. 163; the Additional Protocol to the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory, S. Treaty Doc. No. 98-27, 58 Fed. Reg. 31, 132 (1988); and letters rogatory submitted through diplomatic channels. USAOs, however, are not involved in the execution of foreign service requests

In addition to its use in civil cases, 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is available to secure judicial assistance for use in criminal proceedings brought before foreign and international tribunals, including criminal investigations conducted before the filing of an accusation. The statute remains the primary means by which to secure evidence on behalf of prosecutors pursuing matters before international tribunals. Such requests for assistance in criminal cases are directed to the Criminal Division, Office of International Affairs, which performs the functions of the “Central Authority” of the United States under treaties and multilateral conventions involving judicial assistance in criminal matters. When processing requests that involve criminal matters, the Office of International Affairs may either execute the request itself or refer the matter to an appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for execution. As with civil requests, United States Attorneys should not attempt to execute foreign requests for judicial assistance in criminal cases without obtaining the approval of the Office of International Affairs.

[updated April 2018]