CENTER FOR PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE HAGUE CONVENTIONS

 

Hague conventions on Private International Law are the conventions adopted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The Conference held its first meeting in 1893, on the initiative of T.M.C. Asser (Nobel Peace Prize 1911). It became a permanent inter-governmental organisation in 1955, upon entry into force of the Statute of the Hague Conference.

 

The Hague Conference on Private International Law is a global inter-governmental organisation currently gathering 80 Members (79 States and EU) developing and servicing multilateral legal instruments, which respond to global needs for legal protection in personal, family or commercial situations connected with more than one country (with so called "international element"). Having in mind that every country has its own sets of "private international law" rules, mission of the Conference is to work for the "progressive unification" of these rules. The main goal of all of Hague conventions is to simplify the everyday life of many individuals living abroad or the business activities of companies at international stage. This involves finding “internationally-agreed approaches to issues such as jurisdiction of the courts, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in a wide range of areas, from commercial law and banking law to international civil procedure and from child protection to matters of marriage and personal status.” (see official website of the Hague Conference www.hcch.net).

 

So far, the Hague Conference adopted 39 international instruments of which 12 have been ratified by the Republic of Serbia:

1. Convention of 1 March 1954 on civil procedure
2. Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions
3. Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents
4. Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
5. Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters
6. Convention of 4 May 1971 on the Law Applicable to Traffic Accidents
7. Convention of 2 October 1973 on the Law Applicable to Products Liability
8. Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
9. Convention of 25 October 1980 on International Access to Justice
10. Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
11. Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children
12. Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations