The Supreme Court

ORDER 13

SERVICE OUT OF THE JURISDICTION

 

1. [1] Service out of the jurisdiction of a Civil Bill, or notice thereof, may be allowed by the Court or the County Registrar whenever:—

(a) the whole subject matter of the action is land situate within the jurisdiction (with or without rents or profits), or the perpetuation of testimony relating to land within the jurisdiction; or

(b) any act, deed, will, contract, obligation, or liability affecting land or hereditaments situate within the jurisdiction is sought to be construed, rectified, set aside, or enforced in the action; or

(c) any relief is sought against any person domiciled or ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction; or

(d) the action is for the administration of the estate of any deceased person, who, at the time of his death, was domiciled within the jurisdiction, or for the execution (as to property situate within the jurisdiction) of the trusts of any written instrument, of which the person to be served is a trustee, and which ought to be executed according to the law of Ireland; or

(e) the action is one brought to enforce, rescind, dissolve, annul, or otherwise affect a contract, or to recover damages or other relief for or in respect of the breach of a contract—

       (i) made within the jurisdiction, or

       (ii) made by or through an agent trading or residing within the jurisdiction on behalf of a  principal trading or residing out of the jurisdiction, or

       (iii) by its terms or by implication to be governed by Irish Law, or

(f) the action is one brought in respect of a breach committed within the jurisdiction of a contract, wherever made, even though such breach was preceded or accompanied by a breach out of the jurisdiction which rendered impossible the performance of the part of the contract which ought to have been performed within the jurisdiction; or

(g) the action is founded on a tort committed within the jurisdiction; or

(h) any injunction is sought as to anything to be done within the jurisdiction, or any nuisance within the jurisdiction is sought to be prevented or removed, whether damages are or are not also sought in respect thereof; or

(i) any person out of the jurisdiction is a necessary or proper party to an action properly brought against some other person duly served within the jurisdiction; or

(j) [3] the proceeding relates to a child or to a relevant person referred to in section 2 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (whether or not an order under that Act has been made in respect of the relevant person concerned) who is habitually resident in, or a citizen of, Ireland; or

(k) the proceeding is an interpleader proceeding relating to property within the jurisdiction; or

(l) the proceeding is for the appointment of an arbitrator or umpire, or to remit, set aside or enforce an award in an arbitration held or to be held within the jurisdiction; or

(m) the proceeding is by a mortgagee or mortgagor in relation to a mortgage of personal property situate within the jurisdiction and seeks relief of the nature or kind following, that is to say, sale, delivery of possession by the mortgagor, redemption, reconveyance, or delivery of possession by the mortgagee, but does not seek (unless and except so far as is permissible under sub-head (e) of this Rule) any personal judgment or order for payment of any moneys due under the mortgage; or

(n) the proceeding relates to matrimonial or family law, the applicant in the proceeding is domiciled or ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction and jurisdiction in such circumstances or otherwise is permitted by Statute;

(o) the proceedings are pursuant to the terms of the Succession Act, 1965 and the deceased, at the time of his death, had a fixed place of abode within the jurisdiction;

(p) any relief is sought in proceedings commenced in accordance with Order 69 of these Rules.

In any of the above sub-paragraphs the expression ‘‘personal property situate within the jurisdiction’’ means property which on the death of an owner thereof intestate would form the subject matter of a grant of Letters of Administration to his estate out of the Principal Probate Registry; the expression ‘‘mortgage’’ means a mortgage, charge or lien of any description; the expression ‘‘mortgagee’’ means a person for the time being entitled to or interested in a mortgage; and the expression ‘‘mortgagor’’ means a person for the time being entitled to or interested in property subject to a mortgage.

2. Every application for leave to serve a Civil Bill or notice thereof on a defendant out of Ireland shall be supported by affidavit, stating that in the belief of the deponent the plaintiff has a good cause of action, and showing in what place or country such defendant or person to be served is or probably may be found, and whether such defendant or person sought to be served is or is not a citizen of Ireland, and the grounds upon which the application is made; and no such leave shall be granted unless it shall be made sufficiently to appear to the Court or the County Registrar that the case is a proper one for service out of Ireland under these Rules.

3. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, the parties to any contract may agree:—

(a) that the Court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any proceeding in respect of such contract; and also, or in the alternative,

(b) that service of any document in any such proceeding may be effected at any place within or out of the jurisdiction on any party, or on any person on behalf of any party, or in any manner specified or indicated in such contract. Service of any such document at the place (if any) or on the party, or on the person (if any) or in the manner (if any) specified or indicated in the contract, shall be deemed to be good service wherever the parties are resident, and if no place, or mode or person be so specified or indicated, service out of the jurisdiction of such document may be ordered.

4. In Probate actions service of a Civil Bill, or notice thereof, may by leave of the Court or the County Registrar be allowed out of the jurisdiction.

5.[2] Applications under this Order shall be made before the issue of the document, and the affidavit to ground the same shall, when no proceeding is pending, be entitled as between the parties to the intended proceeding and ‘‘In the Matter of the Courts of Justice Acts 1924 to 1961 and the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Acts 1961 to 2003.

6. Any order giving leave to effect service, or to give notice out of the jurisdiction, shall limit a time after such service or notice, within which the person to be served may enter an appearance, and such time shall depend on the place or country where or within which the document is to be served, or the notice given.

7. Where the person to be served is not a citizen of Ireland, notice of the document, and not the document itself, shall be served upon him.

8. Subject to the provisions of this Order, notice in lieu of service shall be given in the manner in which documents are required by these Rules to be served.

9. Whenever an Order shall be made giving leave to serve a document or notice thereof on a person out of the jurisdiction, a copy of such order shall be served with the document or notice.

10. This order shall apply to all proceedings, however instituted, and to any order or notice therein. Where the person to be served is not a citizen of Ireland, a copy of the originating document (other than a Civil Bill) or of the order or notice shall be served instead of the original, together with an intimation in writing that a proceeding in the form of the copy has been instituted, or an order in the terms of the copy made.

11. Nothing herein contained shall in any way prejudice or affect any practice or power of the Court under which, when lands, funds, choses in action, rights or property within the jurisdiction are sought to be dealt with or affected, the Court may, without purporting to exercise jurisdiction over any person out of the jurisdiction, cause such person to be informed of the nature or existence of the proceedings, so that such person shall have an opportunity of claiming, opposing or otherwise intervening.

12. Any person served with a Civil Bill, or notice thereof, may apply to the Court on notice to discharge the order authorising service.