“Letters rogatory” are the means by which a court in one country requests the judicial assistance of a court of a foreign country. Generally, the requests are to assist with service of process or the production of evidence located in the foreign country. For example, a German court may send a letter rogatory to a United States court requesting that the United States court take the testimony of a witness residing within the court's jurisdiction and transmit a transcript to the German court. Also referred to as letter of request.
[Last updated in June of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]