Details

The Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) of the HCCH met from 4 to 7 March 2025. The meeting was attended by over 491 participants, representing 75 HCCH Members, four non-Member States, five intergovernmental organisations, nine international non-governmental organisations, and members of the Permanent Bureau (PB). The Conclusions & Decisions adopted by CGAP are now available in English, French, and Spanish.

CGAP mandated the establishment of several new Experts’ Groups (EGs) and Working Groups (WGs). In terms of work relating to possible new legislative instruments, CGAP established a new EG on Digital Tokens and a new EG on Carbon Markets to work on private international law issues related to these fields. In relation to post-Convention work, CGAP mandated the establishment of two WGs to finalise, respectively, the Model Forms pertaining to Chapter II of the 1970 Evidence Convention and the Good Practices document relevant to the 1965 Service, 1970 Evidence, and 1980 Access to Justice Conventions. CGAP also mandated the establishment of a WG to review and complete the PB’s study on the application and interpretation of Article 2 of the 1985 Trusts Convention and on the institutions analogous to trusts, with a view to its publication.

CGAP also mandated the continuation of the work of several ongoing EGs and WGs. CGAP invited the PB to convene additional meetings of the WGs on Parentage / Surrogacy and on Jurisdiction. In the context of the Jurisdiction WG, CGAP also invited the PB to convene an open and inclusive written consultation process with a view to gathering feedback from future operators of the possible envisaged Convention. CGAP mandated the continuation of the work of the EG on Central Bank Digital Currencies.

CGAP warmly welcomed the proposal of the Kingdom of Morocco to host a Regional Office for Africa (ROAF), and approved its opening in Rabat, Morocco. This brings the number of Regional Offices to three, including the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Hong Kong SAR, China.

Other important initiatives welcomed by CGAP include the holding of a second Forum on Domestic Violence and the Operation of Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention in Brazil in October 2025, as well as the plans in relation to the Malta Process, including the Working Party on Mediation, and the preparations for a Sixth Conference on the HCCH Children’s Conventions as Bridges between Civil / Common Law and Islamic Law in Malta in April 2027 (Malta VI).

CGAP moreover endorsed the Conclusions & Recommendations of the July 2024 meeting of the Special Commission (SC) on the practical operation of the 1965 Service, 1970 Evidence, and 1980 Access to Justice Conventions. CGAP further welcomed the adoption of the fifth edition of the Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Service Convention and approved the adoption of the fifth edition of the Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Evidence Convention as well as of the Country Profiles for the 1965 Service and 1970 Evidence Conventions.

CGAP approved the extension of the respective mandates of the Chair and Vice-Chair of CGAP until the end of CGAP 2026, emphasising the importance of ensuring stability and continuity in CGAP leadership as well as appropriate geographic and gender representation.