Serving Legal Documents and Proof of Service
If you made the application to the court then you are the applicant and the other party to the case is the respondent. If you are replying to papers you received then you are the respondent and the other party to the case is the applicant.
You need to provide copies of all court documents to the other party to the case. This is called serving and means making them aware you have given that document to the court. It is very important that you keep any original documents.
How to serve documents
If the other party lives in Ireland, you can serve them by registered post or personal service. If they are represented by a solicitor, you can also serve the documents on the solicitor, provided that they accept service.
If you cannot serve the documents by registered post or personal service, you may apply to the court to have the documents served in another way. For example, this might be by ordinary post or by electronic means. You might want to get legal advice to better understand what’s involved.
- Documents served by registered post: This is the most common way of serving documents. You send them to the other party at their last known address or their work address. You must keep the certificate of postage given to you at the post office as you will need this in court.
- Documents served by personal service: If you cannot serve the other party by registered post, you may wish to serve them by personal service. This means service by yourself personally, or by a summons server. This is someone who specialises in serving legal documents and must serve them in accordance with court rules. You will be charged for this service, so discuss fees with the service provider.
What you need to show proof of service
After the documents have been served, you must provide proof of service to the court. You do this by filing an Affidavit of Service or a Statutory Declaration of Service in the Circuit Court.
Documents served by registered post
- Affidavit of Service: Using this process, the affidavit must set out the date of service, the documents that were served, and the method of service. The certificate of postage should be attached to the affidavit. The affidavit must then be filed in the court office. If the documents are not returned undelivered to you within ten days, you can now swear an affidavit of service. In other words, you can swear that the documents have been served on the other party based on the postal company's tracking and tracing system.
Or
- Declaration of Service: Alternatively, if the documents are not returned undelivered to you by An Post within ten days, you can fill out Form 1B. With this you can declare to an authorised person that the documents have been served. The certificate of postage should be attached to the statutory declaration. The statutory declaration must then be filed in the court office.
Documents served by personal service
- Affidavit of Service: If the documents have been served by personal service, the person who served the documents must swear an Affidavit of Service. The affidavit must set out the date of service, the documents which were served, and the method of service. The affidavit must then be filed in the court office.
Or
- Declaration of Service: If the documents have been served by personal service, the person who served the documents must fill out Form 1C and declare to an authorised person that the documents have been served. The statutory declaration must then be filed in the court office.
Update originating (or original) documentation
The person who served the documents must write the details of service on the original application. It should contain:
- Their name
- The current date and the date of service
- How the document was served on the other party