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Each Contracting State shall designate one or more transmitting authorities for the purpose of forwarding to the appropriate Central Authority in the requested State applications for rendering enforceable orders to which Article 15 applies.
Each Contracting State shall designate a Central Authority to receive such applications and to take the appropriate steps to ensure that a final decision on them is reached.
Federal States and States which have more than one legal system may designate more than one Central Authority. If the Central Authority to which an application is submitted is not competent to deal with it, it shall forward the application to whichever other Central Authority in the requested State is competent to do so.
Applications under this Article shall be transmitted without the intervention of any other authority, without prejudice to an application being transmitted through diplomatic channels.
Nothing in this Article shall prevent applications from being made directly by the person entitled to the benefit of the order unless the requested State has declared that it will not accept applications made in this manner.