Article 17 - Service of documents - OECD Member Countries

SECTION III SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS ARTICLE 17 SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS 1. At the request of the applicant State, the requested State shall serve upon the addressee documents, including those relating to judicial decisions, which emanate from the applicant State and which relate to a tax covered by this Convention. 2. The requested State shall effect service of documents: a. by a method prescribed by its domestic laws for the service of documents of a substantially similar nature; b. to the extent possible, by a particular method requested by the applicant State or the closest to such method available under its own laws. 3. A Party may effect service of documents directly through the post on a person within the territory of another Party. 4. Nothing in the Convention shall be construed as invalidating any service of documents by a Party in accordance with its laws. 5. When a document is served in accordance with this article, it need not be accompanied by a translation. However, where it is satisfied that the addressee cannot understand the language of the document, the requested State shall arrange to have it translated into or a summary drafted in its or one of its official languages. Alternatively, it may ask the applicant State to have the document either translated into or accompanied by a summary in one of the official languages of the requested State, the Council of Europe or the OECD.