Service of documents: official transmission of legal documents

1 What does the legal term "service of documents" mean in practical terms? Why are there specific rules regarding the "service of documents"?

Service of a procedural document means delivery of a document to its recipient in a manner that allows the recipient to examine the document in time to exercise and protect their rights. Chapter 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure (tsiviilkohtumenetluse seadustik) provides for various manners of service, including electronically, by registered letter, through an enforcement agent, service on a representative of the recipient, service of a procedural document by sending, and by public announcement by publishing it in the publication Ametlikud Teadaanded (Official Announcements). For a procedural document to be deemed to have been served, the act of delivering the document must meet the formal requirements of law and be documented in the format designated for the purpose.

2 Which documents need to be served formally?

Pursuant to Section 306(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court must serve the following documents on the parties to proceedings: the statement of claim, the statement of appeal and supplements to either of these, summonses, court judgments, rulings on termination of proceedings, and any other procedural documents specified by law.

3 Who is responsible for serving a document?

The court may serve procedural documents electronically via the designated information system. The court arranges for the service of procedural documents through a professional provider of postal services, an enforcement agent, a court security guard or, as per the internal rules of the court, another competent court official. It may also serve the documents in another manner specified by law. A party to proceedings who has submitted a document that needs to be served or who requires another procedural document to be served may apply to the court to arrange for service of the document independently. A party to proceedings may serve procedural documents only through an enforcement agent. In such cases, service and documentation of service are conducted under the same conditions as service by the court through an enforcement agent. The court assesses whether the procedural document can be deemed to have been served.

4 Address enquiries

Estonia has chosen the mechanism referred to in Article 7(1)(c) of the Regulation, i.e. providing detailed information via the European e-Justice Portal on how to find the addresses of persons to be served.

4.1 Does the requested authority in this Member State on its own initiative, try and establish the whereabouts of the addressee of the documents to be served if the address indicated is not correct ? See also notification under Article 7(2)(c) of the Service of Documents Regulation.

The institution receiving the request – i.e. the Ministry of Justice (Justiitsministeerium) or a court – also verifies, in addition to the existing data, the address of the person in the Population Register (Rahvastikuregister) or the Commercial Register (Äriregister).

Courts process international requests for serving documents on petition, i.e. courts are obliged to make every effort to establish the address of the person concerned.

4.2 Do foreign judicial authorities and/or parties to judicial proceedings have access to registers or services in this Member State enabling the establishment of the person’s current address? If yes, which registers or services exist and what procedure must be followed? What fee, if any, should be paid?

The addresses of legal persons, branches of foreign companies and sole proprietorships are available in the Commercial Register. This information is available free of charge. In order to establish the address of a private person, an official query can be made to obtain data entered in the Population Register. The query must substantiate the legitimate interest in order for the data controller to decide whether issuing the relevant information is justified. If there is legitimate interest, examination of an application to issue data from the Population Register requires payment of a state fee of €15 per set of personal data.

4.3 What type of assistance in address enquiries from other Member States do the authorities of this Member State provide under Article 7(1) of the Service of Documents Regulation? See also notification under Article 7(1) of the Service of Documents Regulation.

5 How is the document normally served in practice? Are there alternative methods which may be used (other than substituted service referred to in point 7 below)?

The decision on how to serve a document is generally made by the body conducting proceedings. However, courts should primarily serve documents electronically via the public e-File information system, where a party to proceedings has access to all the procedural documents of their case, or by email. The use of electronic channels helps courts to save on postal charges, and the use of electronic service is constantly increasing. After considering electronic service, the court will consider other alternatives, such as service by post, service by a court messenger and various other options set out by law.

6 Is electronic service of documents (service of judicial or extrajudicial documents through remote means of electronic communication, such as e-mail, internet based secured application, fax, sms etc.) permitted in civil proceedings? If so, for which types of proceedings is this method provided for? Are there restrictions with regard to the availability/access of this method of service of documents depending on who the addressee is (legal professional, legal person, company or other business actor, etc.)?

Electronic service is permitted in all proceedings and to all addressees.

Pursuant to Section 311¹ of the Code of Civil Procedure, procedural documents are served electronically via the designated information system, by sending a notice to the parties to the proceedings informing them that the document is available in the system. The court makes all procedural documents, including court decisions, immediately available to the parties to the proceedings via the information system, regardless of how the documents are served on the parties. It is only possible to log in to the information system using an identity card for authentication. A procedural document is deemed to have been served when the recipient opens it in the information system or confirms receipt in the information system without opening the document. The same applies if this is done by another person whom the recipient has granted access to view their documents in the information system. The information system registers the service of the document automatically.

If a recipient cannot be expected to be able to use the information system used to serve procedural documents, or if serving documents via the information system is technically impossible, the court may also serve procedural documents electronically in another manner. In such cases, the document is deemed to have been served when the recipient confirms receipt of the procedural document in writing, by fax or electronically. This confirmation must set out the date of receipt of the document and bear the signature of the recipient or their representative. Confirmation in electronic form must bear the digital signature of the sender or be transmitted in another secure manner enabling the sender to be identified and the time of sending to be established, unless the court has no reason to doubt that the confirmation without a digital signature has been sent by the recipient or their representative. Confirmation in electronic form may be sent to the court by email if the email address of the recipient is known to the court and it can be presumed that no unauthorised persons have access to it and also if the court has already sent documents to this email address in the course of the same case or if the party to the proceedings has provided their email address to the court independently. The confirmation must be sent to the court without delay. A court may fine a party to proceedings or their representative for violating this obligation.

Procedural documents may be served on advocates, notaries, enforcement agents, trustees in bankruptcy and state or local government agencies in a manner other than the electronic method via the designated information system only if there is a good reason for doing so.

6.1 What type of electronic service within the meaning of Article 19(1) of the Service of Documents Regulation are available in this Member State where service is to be effected directly on a person, who has a known address for service in another Member State?

Under Article 19(1) of the Service of Documents Regulation, the court may serve procedural documents electronically on a recipient by email.

6.2 Has this Member State in accordance with Article 19(2) of the Service of Documents Regulation specified additional conditions under which it will accept electronic service via e-mail referred to in Article 19(1)(b) of that Regulation? See also notification under Article 19(2) of the Service of Documents Regulation.

Under Estonian law, a procedural document is deemed to have been served on the recipient by email if the recipient confirms receipt thereof. This confirmation must set out the date of receipt of the document and bear the signature of the recipient or their representative. Confirmation in electronic form must bear the digital signature of the sender or be transmitted in another secure manner enabling the sender to be identified and the time of sending to be established, unless the court has no reason to doubt that the confirmation without a digital signature has been sent by the recipient or their representative. Confirmation in electronic form may be sent to the court by email if the email address of the recipient is known to the court and it can be presumed that no unauthorised persons have access to it and also if the court has already sent documents to this email address in the course of the same case or if the party to the proceedings has provided their email address to the court independently. The recipient must send confirmation to the court without delay. A court may fine a party to proceedings or their representative for violating this obligation.

7 'Substituted' service

7.1 Does the law of this Member State allow for other methods of service in cases where it has not been possible to serve the documents to the addressee (e.g. notification to the home address, to the bailiff office, by postal service, or by poster advertising)?

Pursuant to Section 322(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, if the recipient of a procedural document cannot be reached in their home, the document is also deemed to have been served if it is delivered to a person of at least 14 years of age who lives with the recipient or serves the recipient’s family. Subsection 2 of the same section states that, instead of serving a procedural document on the recipient, it may be served on the apartment association managing the apartment building where the recipient’s home or business is located, the administrator of a jointly owned property, or the recipient’s landlord. Likewise, it may be served on the recipient’s employer or another person for whom the recipient provides services under a contract. Pursuant to subsection 3, a procedural document is deemed to have been served on the recipient even if it is served on the recipient’s representative in one of the ways specified in subsections 1 and 2 of the same section. Pursuant to Section 322(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a document is also deemed to have been served on a person who is serving in the defence forces, serving a sentence in prison or staying in a health care institution or similar place for a prolonged period of time, if the document is delivered to the head of the institution or someone appointed by them, unless otherwise prescribed by law.

Section 323 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that, if a document is being served on a natural person engaging in economic or professional activities, but this person is not present in the business premises during regular working hours or is unable to receive the document, the document may be delivered to an employee who is usually present in the business premises of the recipient or to a person who usually provides services to the recipient on a similar contractual basis. The same also applies, pursuant to subsection 2, to service of documents on legal persons, administrative agencies, notaries and enforcement agents, as well as in the case of serving of a document on the recipient’s representative or any other person on whom the document may be served instead of the recipient.

In the cases specified in Sections 322 and 323 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a document is not deemed to have been served if, instead of the recipient, the document is served on a person participating in the judicial proceedings as the recipient’s opposing party.

In accordance with Section 326(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a procedural document that cannot be served because it cannot be delivered to the home or business premises of the recipient or their representative can be considered served if it is placed in the post box belonging to the home or business premises, or in a similar place that the recipient or their representative uses to receive mail and that would protect the document against the elements in normal circumstances. A procedural document may be served in this way on the apartment association managing the apartment building where the recipient’s home or business premises are located, the administrator of a jointly owned property or the recipient’s landlord, as well as on the recipient’s employer or another person to whom the recipient provides services under a contract, only if it is impossible to serve the document on the recipient or their representative in person. Serving the document in the manner described in subsection 1 of this section is permitted, pursuant to subsection 2, only if efforts have been made to deliver the procedural document to the recipient personally on at least one occasion and if it is also impossible to serve the procedural document on another person present in the home or business premises in conformity with Section 322(1) or Section 323 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Section 327 of the Code of Civil Procedure also allows the procedural document to be served by being deposited at a specific location. Pursuant to Section 217(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, on the conditions provided in Section 326 of the Code, a document may also be deposited with the post office, municipal government or city government in the place of service of the document, or with the office of the county court within the territorial jurisdiction of which the place of service of the document is located.

Pursuant to Section 317(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, based on a court ruling, a party to proceedings may be served a procedural document by public announcement if:

the address of the party to the proceedings is not entered in the register or the person does not live at the address entered in the register and the court has no other way of knowing the address of the person or where they are staying, and the document cannot be delivered to a representative of the person or a person authorised to receive the document or in any other manner provided for in this section;
serving the document in a foreign state in line with the requirements is presumed to be impossible;
the document cannot be served because the place of service is the home of an extra-territorial person.

A procedural document may be served by public announcement on a party to proceedings who is a legal person based on a court ruling if electronic service and service by registered letter to the postal address entered in the register on legal persons have yielded no results. If a legal person has submitted the Estonian address of the person provided for in Section 24 of the Commercial Code to the registrar, an attempt must also be made to deliver the document to this address before public service of the procedural document.

Pursuant to Section 317(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, an excerpt from a document subject to public service is published in Ametlikud Teadaanded. The court hearing the matter may make a ruling on allowing publication of the excerpt in other publications as well.

A court may refuse to serve a procedural document by public announcement if the presumed intention is to have the ruling to be made in the proceedings recognised or enforced in a foreign State and such public service would make it likely for the ruling not to be recognised or enforced.

7.2 If other methods are applied, when are the documents deemed to have been served?

If a document is served pursuant to Sections 322 and 323 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it is deemed to have been served once it has been delivered to the person to whom the document should be delivered in accordance with those same provisions.

If a document is served by being placed in a post box pursuant to Section 326 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it is deemed to have been served once it has been placed in the post box.

If a document is served by being deposited, pursuant to Section 327(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, it is deemed to have been served once 3 days have passed from the written notice specified in subsection 2 of the same section being left or sent on. The date of service is entered on the envelope of the document.

In the event of public service, a procedural document is deemed to have been served once 15 days have passed from the date the excerpt was published in Ametlikud Teadaanded (Section 317(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure). The court hearing the matter may set a longer term for deeming a document to be served. In this case, the term is published together with the public service of the document.

7.3 If another method of service is the deposit of the documents in a particular place (e.g. at a post office) how is the addressee informed of that deposit?

If a procedural document is served by being deposited, pursuant to Section 327(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure a written notice concerning this is left at or sent to the address of the recipient. If this is impossible, the notice is attached to the door of the home, business premises or place of stay of the recipient or issued to a person living in the neighbourhood for them to forward it to the recipient. The notice must clearly state that the document deposited has been sent by the court and that the document is deemed to have been served as soon as it has been deposited, and terms in the proceedings may begin to run starting from that time.

7.4 If the addressee refuses to accept service of the documents, what are the consequences? Are the documents regarded as effectively served if the refusal wasn’t legitimate?

Pursuant to Section 325 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if a person refuses to accept a document without good reason, the document is deemed to have been served on the person at the time when they refused to accept the document. In this situation, the document is left in the home or business premises of the recipient, or placed in their post box. In the absence of any premises or post box, the document is returned to the court.

8 Postal service from abroad (Article 18 of the Service of Documents Regulation)

8.1 If the postal service delivers a document sent from abroad to an addressee in this Member State in a situation where acknowledgment of receipt is required (Article 18 of the Service of Documents Regulation), does the postal service deliver the document only to the addressee himself/herself or may it, in accordance with national rules of postal delivery, deliver the document also to another person at the same address?

Pursuant to Section 316¹(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, which covers the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and on the basis of that Regulation, documents are served in Estonia in line with the procedure set out in the Code of Civil Procedure for serving procedural documents. Documents may not be served by public announcement.

Pursuant to Section 313(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a procedural document that is served may be handed over to a person who is not the recipient only in the cases provided by Part VI of the Code of Civil Procedure. That person must hand the document over to the recipient at the earliest opportunity. They may refuse to accept the document for delivery to the recipient only if they prove that they are unable to deliver the document to the recipient. The obligation to deliver the document must be explained to the person. The document is deemed to have been served regardless of whether or not that explanation is given.

Thus, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council, it is also possible to apply the manners of service described in point 7 above and provided for in Sections 322 and 323 of the Code of Civil Procedure:

8.2 Under the rules of postal delivery in this Member State how can the service of documents from abroad, under Article 18 of the Service of Documents Regulation, be effected if neither the addressee nor any other person authorised to receive the delivery (if possible under national rules of postal delivery – see above) has been reached at the address of delivery?

In line with the second sentence of Section 316¹(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, no public announcement may be used when serving a procedural document pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

It is possible to serve a procedural document by placing it in a post box, pursuant to Section 326 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or, in accordance with Section 327 of the Code of Civil Procedure, by depositing the procedural document.

Inasmuch as procedural documents are to be served with acknowledgement of receipt in line with Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council, it is questionable whether service as applied in the cases set out in Sections 326 and 327 of the Code of Civil Procedure is admissible.

8.3 Does the post office allow a specific period of time for collection of the documents before sending the documents back as undelivered? If yes, how is the addressee informed that there is mail for him to collect at the post office?

Pursuant to Section 6(1) of the ‘Requirements for forwarding registered items and insured items in the framework of the universal postal service’ approved by means of Regulation No 57 of the Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications of 22 June 2006, if the recipient of an item of correspondence is not at their place of residence or location at the time of service, a notice from the nearest post office to the place of residence or location in question will be left for the recipient, explaining that the delivery was carried out.

If it is not possible to serve a procedural document because the recipient is not present or for any other reason, the instructions provided by the sender on the delivery notice are observed, and the procedural document may be deposited at a post office for either 15 or 30 calendar days in line with the period selected by the sender (if the sender has failed to select the period for storage, the item will be stored for 15 days). The sender may extend the period for which a procedural document is stored. If the recipient does not collect the procedural document during the period of storage, the document is returned to the sender at the end of the period. A deposit notice is sent to the recipient by text message, to an email address or to a post box (cf. AS Eesti Post’s terms and conditions of service for the service of procedural documents).

9 Is there any written proof that the document has been served?

Pursuant to Section 306(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, when a procedural document is served, the act of delivery must meet the formal requirements provided for by law and be documented in the format prescribed for the purpose. Pursuant to Section 307(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, the dispatch of a procedural document intended for service must be entered in the court file. Pursuant to Section 311¹ of the Code of Civil Procedure, the designated information system registers the service of a procedural document via that system automatically (see the description of service through the information system in point 6 above). Pursuant to Section 313 of the Code of Civil Procedure, service of a document by registered letter is certified by the delivery notice. When a document is sent by unregistered letter or fax, it is deemed to have been served if the recipient sends the court confirmation of receipt of the document by letter or fax or electronically, as chosen by the recipient. The confirmation must set out the date of receipt of the document and bear the signature of the recipient of the document or their representative. Pursuant to Section 315(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a delivery notice is prepared concerning service of a procedural document through an enforcement agent, court official, or other person or institution. After service, the delivery notice is returned to the court without delay.

Where a procedural document is served on the basis of Section 314¹ of the Code of Civil Procedure by being sent, a note is made in the file, setting out where and when the document or information about making it available was sent, unless sending is registered automatically in the information system created for that purpose.

10 What happens if something goes wrong and the addressee does not receive the document or the service is effected in violation of the law (e.g. the document is served on a third person)? Can the service of the document nevertheless be valid (e.g. can violations of the law be remedied) or must a new effort to serve the document be made?

Pursuant to Section 307(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, if a document reaches a party to proceedings on whom the document had to be served or on whom the document could be served pursuant to law but it is not possible to certify the service, or if the procedure for service provided by law is violated, the document is deemed to have been served on the party to the proceedings only from the time at which the document actually reaches the recipient.

In the event of service by registered letter pursuant to Section 313 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may deem a delivery notice that does not meet the formal requirements provided in subsections 3 and 4 of the same section to be adequate for the purpose of service if service is nevertheless reliably documented in the delivery notice. If the court cannot deem a procedural document as served because the provider of postal services failed to serve the document correctly, the court may give the procedural document to the provider of postal services to be served again at no additional cost to the court. Examples of failure to serve the document correctly include not using all the options outlined in the Code of Civil Procedure when serving the procedural document by registered letter, delivering the procedural document to a person to whom it should not have been delivered pursuant to the provisions of this section, failing to comply with the requirements provided for in Section 326 of the Code of Civil Procedure for serving of a procedural document by placing it in a post box or in Section 327 of the Code of Civil Procedure for serving of a procedural document by depositing it, or failing to document the service correctly, meaning that the service could not be considered as having been carried out.

11 If the addressee refuses to accept a document based on the language used (Article 12 of the Service of Documents Regulation) and the court or authority seised of the legal proceedings decides upon verification that the refusal was not justified, is there a specific legal remedy to challenge that decision?

No such legal remedy is provided for in Estonian law.

12 Do I have to pay for service of a document, and if so, how much? Is there a difference where the document is to be served under domestic law and where the request for service originates from another Member State? See also notification under Article 15 of the Service of Documents Regulation, concerning service of a document from another Member State.

The cost of postal services paid nationally in Estonia does not constitute a cost related to examining the case, i.e. the service of procedural documents in national judicial proceedings is generally free of charge, unless service is requested via an enforcement agent.

If procedural documents are served through an enforcement agent, the fee payable to the enforcement agent for the service of procedural documents is, pursuant to Section 48(2) of the Enforcement Agents Act, €40 if the documents could be served on the addressee or their legal representative:

via the address or telecommunications data entered in the population register or via the email address isikukood@eesti.ee (isikukood = personal ID code);
at an address entered in the register of self-employed persons or legal persons kept in Estonia or via the telecommunications data entered in the information system of that register.

Pursuant to subsection 3, if a procedural document cannot be served despite the enforcement agent doing everything necessary and reasonably possible for the service of the document pursuant to the procedure set out in law, the enforcement agent has the right to demand a fee of €40 by issuing a decision on the enforcement agent’s fee and the instrument of service setting out the steps the enforcement agent took to serve the document. In cases other than those specified in subsections 2 and 3, the fee payable to an enforcement agent for serving procedural documents is €70.

If the person on whom documents are to be served is legally obliged to register their address or contact information in the population register or in the Estonian register of self-employed persons or legal persons and that person has not duly complied with said obligation (including if the data entered in the register is outdated or incorrect for any other reason) and therefore procedural documents could not be served using such information, €35 of the €70 fee is to be paid, on the basis of a decision on the enforcement agent’s fee, by the person applying for a professional act and the other €35 by the person on whom the documents were to be served.

An enforcement agent does not have the right to demand a fee and any advance payment made is to be returned, if the enforcement agent has not done everything necessary and reasonably possible to serve documents pursuant to the procedure provided for by law by the deadline set by the court and if procedural documents could not be served.

The amount of the postal charges payable by the court is based on the price list of the service provider; no fixed fee has been set at the legislative level. The price depends on the weight of the letter, where it is being served, etc.

A party to proceedings must pay for the service of a procedural document abroad in accordance with the tariffs of the postal service provider. The costs of serving and forwarding procedural documents in a foreign country and of serving and forwarding such documents to an extra-territorial citizen of the Republic of Estonia form part of the specific costs of considering a case within the meaning of Section 143 of the Code of Civil Procedure. To the extent determined by the court, the specific costs of considering a case are to be paid in advance by the party to the proceedings who made the request giving rise to the costs, unless the court decides otherwise. Final responsibility for bearing procedural costs lies with the person who is to bear the procedural costs on the basis of a court ruling. The costs of an action are borne by the unsuccessful party. When an application is processed for judicial documents to be served on petition, a state fee of €50 is to be paid. The state fee can be paid by bank transfer to any of the bank accounts of the Ministry of Finance: SEB Pank – bank account number EE571010220229377229 (SWIFT: EEUHEE2X); Swedbank – bank account number EE062200221059223099 (SWIFT: HABAEE2X); Luminor Bank – bank account number EE221700017003510302 (SWIFT: RIKOEE22); LHV Pank – bank account number EE567700771003819792 (BIC/SWIFT: LHVBEE22).

Further information can be found in: Code of Civil Procedure

Last update: 20/01/2025