Giving evidence from abroad in UK court cases and tribunals

In UK court cases and tribunals, you may need to use a video link if you’re abroad. You may be:

• taking a complaint to a UK court or tribunal, sometimes known as making an appeal
• submitting evidence in a case or hearing that you or someone else has taken to the court or tribunal

Getting permission to give video evidence from abroad

Before you can give evidence from abroad via video in a UK court case or tribunal, you need to make sure that it is permitted. You need permission both in the UK and in the country where you intend to give evidence from.

You’ll need to:

• inform the court or tribunal, sometimes through a solicitor or barrister
• check the guidance for the country you want to give evidence from – there is advice on where to find that in this guide

You may need to get advice from the:

• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) – but not for criminal court cases
• Royal Courts of Justice – for some civil or commercial court cases
• Home Office – for criminal court cases

The FCDO:

• manages the agreements UK tribunals, civil and commercial courts have with other countries
• can give advice and information on those agreements
• cannot decide whether video evidence can be given from another country – that is a decision for the tribunal or court and, where relevant, the authorities abroad

Criminal court cases

Read Home Office guidance on mutual legal assistance for advice on giving video evidence from abroad in criminal court cases.

The FCDO does not handle queries or give advice on evidence from abroad in criminal court cases.

Civil and commercial court cases

Giving and taking evidence from other countries during civil and commercial court proceedings or hearings depends on whether the country has signed up to The Hague Convention.

Hague Convention countries

If the country from where you want to give evidence is one of the members of the Hague Convention, you should read the practical information issued by each country for guidance.

All other countries

If the country from where you want to give evidence is not a Hague Convention country, you should contact the Foreign Process Section in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Tribunals

To find out whether you can give evidence from abroad to a UK tribunal, you should:

1. Go to our list of rules by country for tribunals.
2. Contact the FCDO Taking of Evidence team: [email protected].
   If the country is not listed in our ‘rules by country’ guidance, the team can contact the authorities abroad for you.
3. Contact the tribunal itself.

Find contact details for a tribunal.

Find contact details for some types of tribunals on their GOV.UK pages:

Specialist tribunals

First-tier Tribunal

Upper Tribunal

The Upper Tribunal hears appeals against decisions of the First-tier Tribunal.

Civil and commercial tribunals