First Meeting of the Working Group on the Financial Aspects of Intercountry Adoption
From 26 to 28 June 2023, the Working Group on the Financial Aspects of Intercountry Adoption met for the first time. The meeting, held online, was attended by 42 experts in total, representing 16 Member States, three non-Member Contracting Parties, and three Observers. Several staff members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH also attended the meeting. The mandate of the Working Group...
Delegation from the Philippines visits the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH
On 14 July 2023, the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH had the honour of welcoming a delegation of representatives of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the Philippine Judicial Academy, and the Embassy of the Philippines in The Netherlands, to its premises in The Hague. The delegation was headed by the Hon. Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, Senior Associate Justice, acting on behalf of the Hon....
Kick-off Meeting of the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) Project
On 5 July 2023, the kick-off meeting of the CBDCs Project was held online. The meeting was attended by 38 experts, representing 15 Members and three Observers, as well as by members of the Permanent Bureau (PB) of the HCCH. The CBDCs Project will study the private international law implications of CBDCs, as mandated by the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) of the HCCH in March 2023...
Protection of Adults Convention enters into force for Malta
On 1 July 2023, the Convention of 13 January 2000 on the International Protection of Adults (2000 Protection of Adults Convention) entered into force for the Republic of Malta following the deposit of its instrument of ratification on 8 March 2023. The 2000 Protection of Adults Convention currently has 15 Contracting Parties. More information on this Convention is available on the Protection of...
Paraguay accedes to the Service and Evidence Conventions
Today, 23 June 2023, the Republic of Paraguay 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) and the Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (1970 Evidence Convention). With the accession of...
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...