Publication of the HCCH Strategic Plan 2023-2028
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the publication of the HCCH’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2028. In March 2022, the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) mandated the establishment of a Working Group to develop a new draft Strategic Plan, to be built upon the basis of the Strategic Plan 2019-2022. The Working Group on the Strategic Plan, chaired by H.E. Ms Adia Sakiqi...
Kick-off Meeting of the HCCH-UNIDROIT Digital Assets and Tokens Joint Project
On 12 June 2023, the kick-off 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 Permanent Bureau in The Hague in hybrid format. The Joint Project will examine the desirability of developing coordinated guidance and the feasibility of a normative framework on the law applicable to...
Online Event – 30th Anniversary of the 1993 Adoption Convention
On 31 May 2023, the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH hosted an online event on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the 1993 Adoption Convention. The event consisted of three roundtables featuring adoption experts from around the world, as well as persons with lived experiences in intercountry adoption. On this anniversary, it was important to recall the reasons why this Convention was adopted in...
Publication of the Toolkit for Preventing and Addressing Illicit Practices in Intercountry Adoption
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the publication of the Toolkit for Preventing and Addressing Illicit Practices in Intercountry Adoption. The Toolkit is intended to assist Contracting Parties to the 1993 Adoption Convention, as well as all actors and persons involved in adoption, to properly implement and operate the Convention. It does so by providing practical guidelines on what must...
Georgia signs the Child Support Convention and its Protocol
Yesterday, 25 May 2023, H.E. Mr Rati Bregadze, Minister of Justice, signed, on behalf of Georgia, the Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (2007 Child Support Convention) and the Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations (2007 Maintenance Obligations Protocol). At the ceremony, which...
Singapore accedes to the Service Convention
Today, 16 May 2023, the Republic of Singapore deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (1965 Service Convention). With the accession of Singapore, the 1965 Service Convention now has 81 Contracting Parties. It will enter into force for Singapore on 1 December 2023...
Seminar “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in the Western Balkan Region: HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention”
On 15 and 16 May 2023, the seminar “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in the Western Balkan Region: HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention”, co-organised by the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) and the HCCH, was held in The Hague. The seminar provided an opportunity for participants to further refine their knowledge of the 2019 Judgments Convention and to...
North Macedonia signs the 2019 Judgments Convention
Today, 16 May 2023, H.E. Mr Krenar Lloga, Minister of Justice for North Macedonia, signed, on behalf of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019 Judgments Convention). The 2019 Judgments Convention, which currently has 28 Contracting Parties, will enter into force in September...
The HCCH celebrates its 1000th treaty action – Canada accedes to the 1961 Apostille Convention
Today, 12 May 2023, Canada deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (1961 Apostille Convention). This accession marks a historical milestone: it is the 1000th treaty action relating to an HCCH Convention or Protocol (ratification, accession, approval or other instance in which one of the HCCH...
Launch of the HCCH-UNIDROIT Digital Assets and Tokens Joint Project
The Permanent Bureau is pleased to announce the formal approval of the HCCH-UNIDROIT Joint Project on Law Applicable to Cross-Border Holdings and Transfers of Digital Assets and Tokens (HCCH-UNIDROIT Digital Assets and Tokens Joint Project). The Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) of the HCCH endorsed the launch of the Joint Project during its annual meeting, in March 2023. Today, on 11...