Details

PRESS RELEASE

1. From 6-22 June 2001 the Hague Conference on private international law met in Diplomatic Session (Nineteenth Session, first part) at the Peace Palace in the Hague, to pursue negotiations towards a new Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, and to decide on its future work programme.
2. The delegations unanimously confirmed the great importance they attach to the Judgments Project. They felt, however, that the second part of the Diplomatic Session could not be held before the end of 2002 and that this Session should be prepared by a further meeting of the Commission on General Affairs and Policy in early 2002.
3. Delegates held their discussions on the basis of a Preliminary Draft Convention drawn up in October 1999 and the results of meetings of experts on e-commerce and intellectual property, held in Ottawa and Geneva, as well as of a series of informal meetings held in Washington, Ottawa, Basel and Edinburgh. They identified points of agreement and decided that intense consultations should begin immediately in order to prepare the next meeting of the Commission on General Affairs and Policy. The latter would then thoroughly examine whether conditions are met for a successful conclusion of these negotiations, including sufficient agreement on the way to approach critical areas where consensus is still lacking, a result-oriented method of negotiations, and a schedule for any future negotiations.
4. The Session also decided to continue the fast-track negotiation process on a topic important to global financial markets: a world-wide Convention on the law applicable to indirectly held securities. A Special Commission will convene in January 2002 to draw up a Preliminary Draft Convention, with a view to adopting the final text of the Convention in the course of 2002.
5. Finally, the Session decided to include as a priority topic for the Twentieth Diplomatic Session, a world-wide Convention on the Recovery of Maintenance.
6. A full annotated report on the session will shortly be published on this website.