Taking evidence abroad in the Czech Republic: deadlines
An in-house counsel is running a Czech litigation matter where the opposing party's key witness lives in Germany, or the documents that decide the point sit with a foreign parent company. The Czech court cannot simply summon a person abroad. The request for taking evidence abroad carries its own deadlines, separate from the deadlines of the underlying litigation, and missing them does not pause – it closes a stage.
Taking evidence abroad is filed by the Czech court hearing the case, addressed to the authority of the state where the evidence sits. It runs under the rules on international judicial cooperation in civil matters. As a rule, the underlying proceeding is suspended until the request comes back executed or is returned without result.
This page sets out when the procedure applies, the route from filing to execution abroad, the deadline that governs it, what the request file must contain, and what the decision means for the pace of the underlying case.
What counts as taking evidence abroad in a Czech proceeding?
Taking evidence abroad covers any evidentiary act that must physically happen outside the Czech Republic and that a Czech court cannot compel on its own: a witness who resides abroad, a document held by a foreign entity, or an inspection of an asset located in another state.
The category is narrower than it looks. It does not cover evidence a party can hand over voluntarily, nor evidence physically located in the Czech Republic even where the party itself is foreign. It does not cover evidence gathered through informal counsel-to-counsel contact either; once informal cooperation fails, what remains is a formal judicial act, filed by the court, not by the parties.
A party sometimes tries to submit a foreign witness statement obtained privately, without the formal request. Where the other side objects in time, the court can disregard it, and the missed evidentiary act cannot be restored at a later stage of the same instance.
When does the procedure apply, and what does a jurisdiction clause change?
The procedure applies once the Czech court hearing the case decides that a specific piece of evidence sits abroad and is necessary to the decision; it does not apply to evidence obtainable through ordinary disclosure inside the Czech Republic.
Two conditions have to hold together: the evidence must be precisely identifiable, and it must be unavailable by any domestic route. A jurisdiction clause in the underlying contract does not itself decide which state's authority receives the request; the request follows the location of the evidence, not the forum the parties chose. Where the underlying dispute already carries a foreign judgment, the same file often also needs a look at recognition of a foreign judgment, since the two records overlap.
As part of the standard check before a cross-border request goes out, counsel usually confirms whether the counterpart entity or its representative appears on a restricted list such as the OFAC list. A match changes how the request is drafted and who is asked to sign it.
A request drafted around the wrong description of the evidence is returned for clarification, not executed.
A counsel who waits for the opposing party to volunteer evidence abroad usually loses the window to request it formally, and a Czech court will not reopen a closed evidentiary stage to accommodate a delay it did not cause. LISTINA prepares the factual record a request for taking evidence abroad must specify – the witness, the document, the location – in nine to fourteen working days, addressed to the advocate who then files it. Representation before the Czech court, where the matter reaches that stage, is provided by a collaborating advocate. Write to info@listinafirm.com.
What is the route, and what are the deadlines for taking evidence abroad?
The route runs from the Czech court to the foreign authority and back: court, transmission, execution abroad, return of the record. The binding deadline is not fixed in days but tied to procedural steps, and the underlying case is, as a rule, stayed for the duration.
- Evidence located in an EU member state – the Czech court transmits the request directly to the competent foreign court – the requesting court prepares and sends it – execution proceeds without an intermediate authority, and the case is stayed pending return
- Evidence located outside the EU, in a state party to the relevant convention – the request travels through a designated central authority – that authority forwards it to the foreign court – timing depends on the authority's own docket
- Evidence located in a state with no applicable convention – the request travels through diplomatic channels – the ministries act as intermediaries – no fixed timing applies, and the case may stay paused indefinitely
- A party disputes the necessity of the evidence – the court rules on the objection before transmitting the request – the court decides – the transmission deadline runs only from that ruling
Once the request leaves the Czech court, the underlying instance is, as a rule, stayed. A party who needed an interim measure before that point, and did not ask for it in time, finds that the pause itself becomes the irreversible consequence, since urgency arguments weaken once the case is no longer moving.
A German subsidiary's internal correspondence was requested through the direct transmission route in a Czech commercial dispute; the record came back four months faster than a comparable request routed through a central authority in the same period, autumn 2025.
What must the request file contain?
The request file must identify the evidence with precision: the named witness or described document, the exact fact to be established, the foreign location, and a short statement of why it cannot be obtained inside the Czech Republic.
- The exact description of the witness, document or object, not a general reference to a category
- The precise question to be put to a witness, or the precise fact a document must establish
- The current address or the custodian of the document abroad
- A short statement of why the evidence cannot be obtained inside the Czech Republic
- A certified translation into the language accepted by the receiving authority
- Confirmation of the procedural stage at which the request is made
The court expects the same precision a Czech court would demand of a domestic disclosure request; a category described in general terms is the most common reason a request comes back only partly answered.
A request missing the precise question is not refused – it is executed narrowly, and the gap surfaces only once the record is back.
A file that reaches the foreign authority with a vague description of the document comes back with a partial answer, and the case does not get a second attempt at the same stage without a fresh request and a fresh wait. LISTINA drafts the underlying factual record – who holds the document, where it sits, what it must show – in seven to twelve working days, so the advocate files a request that does not need to be repeated. Representation before the Czech court remains with a collaborating advocate. Write to info@listinafirm.com.
Act, wait, or stop: what does the decision mean for the underlying case?
Once the record returns, the underlying case resumes: the evidence is read into the file, the parties comment on it, and the court decides on its weight. Nothing about taking evidence abroad predetermines that weight.
A returned record does not entitle a party to file a second, identical request as a matter of course. Where the same failure repeats, the court can treat the underlying fact as unproven, and that finding, once entered, closes the route to reopening the point in the same instance.
Where the wait has already cost the case its momentum, some parties choose to settle the underlying point rather than pursue the evidence further; a settlement reached at that stage closes the request as moot, without a ruling on what the evidence would have shown.
In an Austrian matter, a land register extract obtained through the request turned out to predate the opposing party's own version of the same fact by two years, a discrepancy that surfaced only once the record came back, spring 2026.
Before the request is filed, no document or register shows how the foreign authority will read it, how long its own docket runs, or whether the witness will in fact appear. Taking evidence abroad depends on an act of a foreign authority that a Czech court, and a report built on Czech sources, cannot predict.
Frequently asked questions
Where is taking evidence abroad filed?
The request is filed by the Czech court hearing the underlying case, not by the parties directly. It is addressed to the competent authority of the state where the evidence is located, following the applicable rules on cooperation between courts.
How long does the court take?
There is no single fixed number of days; timing depends on the transmission route and the receiving authority's own docket. As a rule, the underlying Czech proceeding is stayed for the duration, running from a few weeks on the direct-transmission route within the EU to several months where diplomatic channels apply.
Can the other side object?
Yes. A common misconception is that the request, once filed, cannot be challenged. In practice the other side can object to its necessity or scope before the court transmits it, and the court rules on that objection first.
What follows the decision?
The returned record is read into the case file, the parties comment on it, and the court weighs it together with the rest of the evidence. The taking of the evidence abroad does not by itself decide the underlying point.
LISTINA produces factual reports from documents and public registers. It does not provide legal advice and does not represent parties. Where a matter requires representation before a Czech court or authority, it is handled by a collaborating advocate.
A Czech case that stalls on a foreign evidentiary request rarely gets an extension for the reason that mattered at the outset. LISTINA delivers the factual report a request for taking evidence abroad is built on – the description of the witness or document, the location, the procedural stage – in seven to fourteen working days. Representation before the Czech court, where the matter needs it, is provided by a collaborating advocate. Write to info@listinafirm.com.