Passing away of Professor Alfred von Overbeck

It is with deep regret that the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law learned of the passing away of Professor Alfred E. VON OVERBECK on 7 April 2016 at 91 years of age.

Professor von Overbeck was a member of the Permanent Bureau from 1956 to 1965, serving first as Secretary and then as First Secretary. He was part of the Swiss delegation for the Twelfth (1972), Thirteenth (1976), Fourteenth (1980), Fifteenth (1984) and Sixteenth (1988) Sessions and served as Rapporteur for the Hague Convention of 14 March 1978 on the Law Applicable to Matrimonial Property Regimes and the Hague Convention of 1 July 1985 on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition. He also chaired Commission II on Successions during the Sixteenth Session.

After leaving the Hague Conference, Professor von Overbeck joined the Faculty of Law of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, serving as the Rector of the University from 1971 to 1975. He was the co-founder and first Director of the Swiss Institute for Comparative Law and a member of the Academy of Sciences of both the Netherlands and Austria as well as an emeritus member of the Institut de Droit international. He served as lecturer for the Hague Academy of International Law in 1961, 1971, 1982 and 1992. He was a recipient of a Doctor honoris causa from the University of Strasbourg, created in 1918 to honor foreign nationals who embody the values of the University through their contribution to the arts, culture or science.

Professor von Overbeck will be remembered at the Permanent Bureau for his longstanding involvement with the work of the Hague Conference and his significant contributions to the field of private international law.

The Permanent Bureau would like to express its deepest sympathy to Professor van Overbeck’s family members.