Expert lab about cross-border service and taking of evidence.

On Friday 20 October, Prof. Wannes Vandenbussche, together with Prof. Cedric Vanleenhove, organised an expert lab on the main challenges and practical problems related to cross-border service and taking of evidence.

During the lab, the following topics were discussed:

• Practical issues related to the two EU Regulations, such as

- What to do if there is still no communication from the receiving agency after the one-month period following the acknowledgement of receipt of the document?
- Can a sender from another EU Member State make an electronic service in Belgium?
- Can the Evidence Regulation be used to obtain evidence for arbitration?

• Delicate questions that arise when EU rules do not apply, such as

- Can a Belgian court order and conduct an online examination of a person located in a third country without the intervention of a court in that country?
- Can a Swiss bank invoke its banking secrecy as a legitimate reason for not complying with a Belgian order to produce documents?
- Can a document be deemed to have been served after the expiry of a period of time if, despite the application of the Hague Convention on Service of Documents, a party has never received an acknowledgement or confirmation from a foreign authority?

The panel was a mix of academics and legal practitioners: Karolien Emmerechts (lawyer, scientific collaborator VUB), Patrick Gielen (bailiff), Kim Swerts (lawyer), Ilse Couwenberg (justice at the Court of Cassation), Lotte Vanfraechem (lawyer) and Jachin Van Doninck (lecturer VUB, lawyer)