Permanent Bureau team assists Guatemala with the implementation of the 1993 Hague Convention

In 2002 Guatemala acceded to the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. However, in 2003 the Constitutional Court of Guatemala declared this accession to be unconstitutional. This meant that according to the Guatemalan legal system, the Convention was not in force. Therefore, the depositary of the Hague Convention confirmed in 2003 that the original instrument of accession had been...

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Montenegro becomes 67th HCCH Member

Following consultation of the Member States, Montenegro became the 67th Member of the Conference with effect as of 1 March 2007, date of the declaration by Montenegro of its acceptance of the Statute. At this same date, Montenegro also succeeded to various Hague Conventions to which the former Serbia and Montenegro was already a Party *: Convention of 1 March 1954 on civil procedure...

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Switzerland ratifies Hague Trusts Convention

Only a few weeks after signing the Hague Convention of 1 July 1985 on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition, Switzerland deposited, on 26 April 2007, its instrument of ratification of this Treaty. Switzerland became the eleventh Contracting State to the Trusts Convention. In conformity with its Article 30, the Convention will enter into force for Switzerland on 1 July 2007....

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The European Community becomes Member of the HCCH

Text of the press release: 1. On 3 April 2007 the European Community (EC) became a Member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, by depositing its instrument of acceptance of the Statute of the Hague Conference. The Hague Conference is the World Organisation for Cross-border Co-operation in Civil and Commercial Matters. 2. The deposit, preceded by a favourable decision...

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Breakthrough with the electronic Apostille Pilot Program (e-APP)

Breakthrough with the electronic Apostille Pilot Program (e-APP): State of Kansas first jurisdiction to issue electronic Apostilles under the e-APP – Colombia first jurisdiction to accept e-Apostilles under the e-APP – State of Rhode Island first jurisdiction to go online with the Program’s electronic Register of Apostilles [read more]...

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Service of Process under the Hague 1965 Service Convention - Saint Petersburg Seminar

On 30 and 31 January 2007, a seminar on the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters was held in Saint Petersburg. This Seminar, a follow-up from an initial seminar convened in Moscow on 4-5 October 2005, was jointly organised by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law...

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Swiss Government recommends quick ratification of Hague Securities Convention

At its meeting of 15 November 2006, the Swiss Federal Council approved the Message relating to the Draft Federal Intermediated Securities Act and the Hague Convention of 5 July 2006 on Intermediated Securities. The official press release expressly mentions that the Message “takes into account the needs of current operations involving securities and increases legal certainty. The attraction of...

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Entry into force of amendments to the Statute of the Hague Conference on Private International Law

On 1 January 2007, a revised version of the Statute of the Hague Conference - in French and English, both texts from then on being equally authentic - entered into force. The original Statute, adopted during the Seventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law on 31 October 1951 (in French only), entered into force on 15 July 1955. Amendments were adopted during the Twentieth...

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Inter-American Expert Meeting on International Child Abduction

The Hague, 10 November 2006Experts from the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) co-ordinated the Inter-American expert meeting on international child abduction, which was attended by national experts from the following States: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United States of America and...

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MERCOSUR / HCCH

On 10 November 2006, the Ministers of Justice of the Member States of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela), as well as of the Associate States Chile and Bolivia, signed a declaration encouraging States of the region which have not already done so to ratify/accede to the Hague Apostille, Service, Evidence and Access to Justice Conventions. The official text of the...

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