Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court and Peggy Armenta

Peggy Armenta (plaintiff) sued Suzuki Motor Co., LTD. (Suzuki) and others (defendants) to recover damages after she suffered personal injuries while operating an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by Suzuki. Armenta attempted to effect service of process on Suzuki by sending a summons, complaint, and other documents to Suzuki’s office in Hamamatsu, Japan, by registered mail under the auspices of the California Code of Civil Procedure, which authorizes domestic service by mail with return receipt, and Article 10(a) of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Hague Convention), which permits plaintiffs to send judicial documents, by postal channels, directly to persons abroad so long as the receiving state does not object to receipt of documents by mail. Despite having received the documents sent by Armenta, Suzuki moved to quash service of process on the grounds that the attempted service did not comply with either the California Code of Civil Procedure or the procedure required by the Hague Convention. Suzuki argued that although Japan is a signatory to the Hague Convention and did not expressly object to Article 10(a), Japan did object to Article 10(b) and (c), which permit service of process via judicial officers or other competent persons. Further, the Japanese legal system does not even allow domestic service of process via registered mail. The trial court denied Suzuki’s motion to quash service, and Suzuki sought a writ of mandate from the court of appeal to compel the trial court to vacate its order.