NB! Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 has been replaced by Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 of the European Parliament and of the Council as of 1 July 2022.
Notifications made under the new Regulation can be found here!
General information
Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters seeks to improve, simplify and accelerate cooperation between courts in the taking of evidence.
The Regulation applies between all Member States of the European Union with the exception of Denmark. Between Denmark and the other Member States the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters of 1970 applies.
The Regulation provides for two ways of taking of evidence between Member States: taking of evidence through the requested court and the direct taking of evidence by the requesting court.
The Requesting Court is the court before which the proceedings are commenced or contemplated. The Requested Court is the competent court of another Member State for the performance of the taking of evidence. The Central Body is responsible for supplying information and seeking solutions to any difficulties which may arise in respect of a request.
The Regulation provides for ten forms.
The European e-Justice Portal provides you with information concerning the application of the Regulation and a user-friendly tool for filling in the forms.
Please select the relevant country's flag to obtain detailed national information.
Related links
Practice guide for the application of the Regulation on the Taking of Evidence 
(74 Kb) 
ARCHIVED European Judicial ATLAS website (closed on 30 September 2017)