Judicial documents shall be transmitted directly and as quickly as possible between the transmitting and receiving agencies.

The document to be transmitted shall be accompanied by a request drawn up using form A in Annex I. The form shall be completed in the official language of the Member State addressed or, if there are several official languages in that Member State, in the official language or one of the official languages of the place where service is to be effected, or in another language which that Member State has indicated it will accept.

Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission any official language of the Union other than its own in which the form may be completed.

Documents that are transmitted under this Regulation shall be exempt from requirements of legalisation or any equivalent formality.

Where the transmitting agency requests that a copy of the document sent in paper format in accordance with Article 5(4) be returned together with the certificate referred to in Article 14, it shall send that document in duplicate.

The transmitting agency to which the applicant has forwarded the document for transmission shall advise the applicant that the addressee may refuse to accept the document if it is not in one of the languages provided for in Article 12(1).

The applicant shall bear any costs of translation prior to the transmission of the document, without prejudice to any possible subsequent decisions by the court or competent authority on liability for such costs.

Upon receipt of a document, the receiving agency shall automatically send to the transmitting agency an acknowledgement of receipt as soon as possible through the decentralised IT system or, where the acknowledgement is sent by other means, as soon as possible and in any event within seven days of receipt, using form D in Annex I.

Where the request for service cannot be fulfilled on the basis of the information or documents transmitted, the receiving agency shall contact the transmitting agency without undue delay in order to obtain the missing information or documents, using form E in Annex I.

Where the request for service is manifestly outside the scope of this Regulation or where non-compliance with the formal conditions required makes service impossible, the request and the documents transmitted shall be returned to the transmitting agency upon receipt, without undue delay, together with a notice of return, using form F in Annex I.

Where a receiving agency receives a document for service which it does not have territorial jurisdiction to serve, it shall forward that document without undue delay, together with the request, to the receiving agency that has territorial jurisdiction in the Member State addressed, if the request complies with the conditions laid down in Article 8(2). The receiving agency shall inform the transmitting agency accordingly at the same time, using form G in Annex I. Upon receipt of the document and the request by the receiving agency having territorial jurisdiction in the Member State addressed, that receiving agency shall send an acknowledgement of receipt to the transmitting agency as soon as possible and in any event within seven days of receipt, using form H in Annex I.

The receiving agency shall itself serve the document or have it served, either in accordance with the law of the Member State addressed or by a particular method requested by the transmitting agency, unless that method is incompatible with the law of that Member State.

The addressee may refuse to accept the document either at the time of service or within two weeks of the time of service by making a written declaration of refusal of acceptance. For that purpose, the addressee may either return to the receiving agency form L in Annex I or a written declaration stating that the addressee refuses to accept the document because of the language in which it was served.

Where the receiving agency is informed that the addressee refuses to accept the document pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, it shall immediately inform the transmitting agency by means of the certificate of service or non-service, using form K in Annex I, and return the request and, where available, each document of which a translation is requested.

The service of the refused document may be remedied through the service on the addressee, in accordance with this Regulation, of that document together with a translation into a language provided for in paragraph 1. In such a case, the date of service of the document shall be the date on which the document and its translation were served in accordance with the law of the Member State addressed. However, where the law of a Member State requires a document to be served within a particular period, the date to be taken into account with respect to the applicant shall be the date of the service of the initial document, determined in accordance with Article 13(2).

Paragraphs 1 to 5 apply also to the other means of transmission and service of judicial documents provided for in Section 2.

For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the diplomatic agents or consular officers in cases where service is effected in accordance with Article 17, and the authority or person in cases where service is effected in accordance with Article 18, 19 or 20 shall inform the addressee that the addressee may refuse to accept the document and that either form L in Annex I or a written declaration of refusal must be sent to those agents or officers or to that authority or person respectively.

Without prejudice to Article 12(5), the date of service effected pursuant to Article 11 shall be the date on which the document was served in accordance with the law of the Member State addressed.

However, where the law of a Member State requires a document be served within a particular period, the date to be taken into account with respect to the applicant shall be that determined by the law of that Member State.

This Article also applies to the other means of transmission and service of judicial documents provided for in Section 2.

Upon completion of the formalities concerning the service of the document in question, the receiving agency shall draw up a certificate of completion of those formalities using form K in Annex I and send it to the transmitting agency, together with, where Article 8(4) applies, a copy of the document served.

The certificate referred to in paragraph 1 shall be completed in the official language or one of the official languages of the Member State of origin or in another language which the Member State of origin has indicated that it will accept. Each Member State shall indicate any official language of the Union other than its own in which form K in Annex I may be completed.

The service of judicial documents originating in a Member State shall not give rise to any obligation for the payment or reimbursement of taxes or costs for services rendered by the Member State addressed.