Execution of Letters Rogatory in South Australia

Where a foreign court requests an authorised South Australian court to take evidence in South Australia for the purpose of proceedings before that foreign court the South Australian court may summon any person to appear before it for the purpose of giving evidence or for the purpose of producing documents.

A witness summoned to appear before an authorised South Australian court pursuant to letters rogatory may be examined, cross-examined or re-examined before that court.

If, while any person is being examined before an authorised South Australian court, objection is taken to any question, or to answering any question, the ground of the objection and the answer (if any) to the question shall be set out in the deposition of that person. The validity of the ground of any such objection shall not be determined by the authorised South Australian court but by the foreign court at whose request the examination is being conducted.

The authorised South Australian court may permit a witness to decline to answer a question where in the opinion of the court the answer to that question might incriminate him or where it would in the opinion of the court be unfair to the witness, or to any other person, that the answer should be given and recorded.

A witness cannot be compelled to give evidence on a particular subject if he or she could not be compelled to give evidence on that subject in the foreign court from which the request to take evidence originated.

Diaspora Legal can facilitate the execution of letters rogatory from a foreign court in South Australia, outside the diplomatic channel. We can also attend in Court on the examination, or appoint counsel to attend.