CENTER FOR PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE HAGUE CONVENTIONS

On 5th October 2012, Dr. Hans van Loon, then Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, officially opened the Center for Private International Law of the Hague Conventions, during the 10th jubilee International Conference on Private International Law (held on 4-5 October 2012 at the Faculty of Law University of Niš). The Center for Private International Law of the Hague Conventions is located on the premises of the Law Faculty in Niš.

ABOUT THE CENTER ABOUT THE HAGUE CONVENTIONS ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW VISION AND MISSION ACTUALITIES CONTACT PHOTO GALLERY
    Hague Conference on Private International Law

 

ABOUT THE HAGUE CONVENTIONS ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
 
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
Currently, the Council on Private International Law proposed the ratification of the Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements and the Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.
 
At last, Serbian Council on Private International Law is very interested in the work of the Hague Conference on so called "Judgment Project", leading to the prospective convention on recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Professor Maja Stanivuković (Faculty of Law University of Novi Sad) has been appointed by the Councul on Private International Law as the representative of the Republic of Serbia in the Hague Conference's Working Group on the "Judgment Project". This future Convention would resolve serios obstacle of diplomatic reciprocity for the recognition of the foreign judgments, required by some States (e.g. Austria, Scandinavian countries).