23. As of April 2019, the convention applies to pre-trial discovery in 15 countries. 26 states have objected fully excluding pretrial discovery, while 17 others have restricted its applicability. An example of a partial objection to pre-trial discovery is from Mexico, requiring the start of the judicial proceedings, identifiability of the documents and a clear relationship between the requested documents and the pending proceedings: C) FORMULATION OF PRE-TRIAL DISCOVERY OF DOCUMENTS 4. With reference to Article 23 of the Convention, the United Mexican States declares that according to Mexican law, it shall only be able to comply with letters of request issued for the purpose of obtaining the production and transcription of documents when the following requirements are met: (a) that the judicial proceeding has been commenced; (b) that the documents are reasonably identifiable as to date, subject and other relevant information and that the request specifies those facts and circumstances that lead the requesting party to reasonable believe that the requested documents are known to the person from whom they are requested or that they are in his possession or under his control or custody; (c) that the direct relationship between the evidence or information sought and the pending proceeding be identified. Parties As of 2021, there are 63 states which are parties of the Hague Evidence Convention. Fifty-six of the HCPIL member states are party to the Hague Evidence Convention. In addition, six states that are not members of the HCPIL (Barbados, Colombia, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Nicaragua and Seychelles) have joined the Hague Evidence Convention. Article 39 of the Hague Evidence Convention expressly permits states which were not members of the HCPIL at the time of the conclusion of the treaty to accede to the Convention. Practical operation in member states At least two member states authorize private lawyers to be involved in the evidence-gathering process. Under the law of the British Virgin Islands, if a witness is summoned to testify pursuant to a letter of request, a legal practitioner for any party may administer the oath to the witness. The availability of a private lawyer to be directly involved is even more broad under Israeli law. As noted above, Israel has not issued an article 23 declaration. Israeli law provides, pursuant to the Legal Assistance Among States Law 1998, for the possibility of the appointment of a private lawyer to oversee the process of taking evidence under the