The Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters—more commonly referred to as the Hague Evidence Convention—is a multilateral treaty which was drafted under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCPIL). The treaty was negotiated in 1967 and 1968 and signed in The Hague on 18 March 1970. It entered into force in 1972. It allows transmission of letters of request (letters rogatory) from one signatory state (where the evidence is sought) to another signatory state (where the evidence is located) without recourse to consular and diplomatic channels. Inside the US, obtaining evidence under the Evidence Convention can be compared to comity. The Hague Evidence Convention was not the first convention to address the transmission of evidence from one state to another. The 1905 Civil Procedure Convention—also signed in The Hague—contained provisions dealing with the transmission of evidence. However, that earlier convention did not command wide support and was only ratified by 22 countries. Substantive provisions Central authorities and procedures The convention establishes a procedure whereby each contracting state designates a "central authority" to receive and review incoming "letters of request" for taking evidence in that country. The central authority reviews the letter of request to determine that it complies with the requirements of the convention. If the letter of request does comply, the central authority then "transmits" the letter of request "to the authority competent to execute" it (article 2), which essentially means to a court. Under Article 9, the judicial authority that executes a letter of request applies its own law as to the methods and procedures for executing the letter of request. Under article 13, (a) the documents establishing the execution of the letter of request are to be sent by the requested authority (the recipient of the letter of request) to the requesting authority by the same channel that was used by the requesting authority, and (b) whenever the letter of request is not executed (in whole or in part), the requesting authority is to be informed immediately and advised of the reasons. Pre-trial discovery The convention also applies to pre-trial discovery: obtaining of evidence prior to trial without the prior approval of a judge. While this is a common practice in many common law countries, it was felt unacceptable by many others. Countries can however object to application to pre-trial discovery through an objection according to Article