25th Anniversary of the International Hague Network of Judges
On 14 October 2023, on occasion of the 25th anniversary of the International Hague Network of Judges (IHNJ), Members of the IHNJ from over 30 jurisdictions met in The Hague. The meeting was held during the Eighth Meeting of the Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the 1980 Child Abduction and the 1996 Child Protection Conventions (SC). The IHNJ facilitates international cooperation...
Second Meeting of the HCCH-UNIDROIT Digital Assets and Tokens Joint Project
From 2 to 4 October 2023, the second meeting of the HCCH-UNIDROIT Joint Project on Law Applicable to Cross-Border Holdings and Transfers of Digital Assets and Tokens was held at the premises of the Secretariat of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome, in hybrid format. The Joint Project examines the desirability of developing coordinated guidance and...
25th anniversary of the HCCH website
Today, we joyfully celebrate 25 years of the HCCH’s online presence! On Thursday, 8 October 1998, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Mr D.J. van den Berg, officiated the launch of the new website of the HCCH, developed through a generous voluntary contributions from the Government of the Netherlands. For twenty-five years, our...
Rwanda accedes to the Apostille Convention and applies to become a Member of the HCCH
Today, 6 October 2023, the Republic of Rwanda deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (1961 Apostille Convention). With the accession of Rwanda, the 1961 Apostille Convention now has 126 Contracting Parties. It will enter into force for Rwanda on 5 June 2024. More information on this...
Publication of the Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Session of the HCCH
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the publication of the Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Session. The Twenty-Second Session of the HCCH, held from 18 June to 2 July 2019, resulted in the adoption of the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019 Judgments Convention). The Proceedings consist of two volumes....
Fifth Meeting of the Working Group on Jurisdiction
From 18 to 22 September 2023, the Working Group on Matters Related to Jurisdiction in Transnational Civil or Commercial Litigation met for the fifth time. The meeting was held in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in hybrid format, in accordance with the Council on General Affairs and Council’s decision that the fifth Working Group meeting could be held in a location outside the Netherlands (C&D...
HCCH celebrates its 130th anniversary
On 12 September 1893, Tobias Asser opened the first Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Today, 130 years later, the HCCH celebrates its 130th anniversary with a special anniversary event held as part of HCCH Asia Pacific Week 2023 in Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China. The HCCH was conceived as a multilateral platform for dialogue, discussion,...
Save the Date: CODIFI Edition 2023 - CBDCs
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce that an online colloquium on selected topics related to the CBDCs Project will be held online on 5 October 2023, following the mandate of the Council on General Affairs and Policy at its 2023 meeting (C&D No 17). The CBDCs Project was established by CGAP in March 2023 with the mandate to study the private international law implications of central...
Judgments Convention: Entry into force and ratification by Uruguay
Today, 1 September 2023, the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019 Judgments Convention) entered into force, just over four years after its adoption on 2 July 2019. As of today, the Convention has effect between the European Union (EU), including its Members States (except Denmark), and Ukraine. On this same day,...
Launch of e-Country Profiles project
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the launch of the e-Country Profiles project, a new EU-funded project coordinated by the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH. The project will result in the development or modernisation of online Country Profiles for a number of key HCCH Conventions: 1965 Service Convention 1970 Evidence Convention 1980 Child Abduction Convention 1993 Adoption Convention ...