U.S. Embassy & Consulates
in France

By these means, a judicial authority in the United States requests the competent French judicial authority to obtain evidence or to perform some other judicial act. Such letters rogatory should be sent by the court in the United States to the following address:
Ministère de la Justice
Direction des Affaires civiles et du Sceau
Bureau de l’Entraide judiciaire en Matière civile et commerciale
13, place Vendôme
75042 Paris Cedex 01
France

Documents must be written in French, or accompanied by a translation in French, and should specify:
(1) The authority requesting its execution and the authority requested to execute it (name of the court), or the “appropriate judicial authority in France”;
(2) The name and address of the parties to the proceedings, and their representatives;
(3) The nature of the proceedings, and all necessary information pertaining to it;
(4) The evidence to be obtained;
(5) The names and addresses of the persons to be examined;
(6) The questions to be put to the witnesses, or a statement of the subject matter on which they are to examined;
(7) The documents or other property to be inspected;
(8) Whether the evidence is to be given under oath or affirmation, and any specific form of oath that must be used;
(9) Whether any special procedure or method should be followed in taking the evidence.

In the absence of special instructions under items (2) and (9), the French court executing the letters rogatory will follow its own normal procedures.
The court issuing the letters rogatory may ask to be informed on the date and place of the proceedings, and parties of the case and their representatives may be present. Judges of the requesting court may also ask to attend the proceedings.

There are no fees required for the execution of letters of requests; however, the French court may require reimbursement for any fees paid to experts, interpreters, or expenses incurred as a result of use of special procedures requested by U.S. court.

The Embassy cannot monitor the process. It can take several months to have such a request completed.