The Hague Convention on Private International Law ‘Judgments Convention’

Further information

With 83 Members (82 States and the European Union) representing all continents, the Hague Conference on Private International Law is a global inter-governmental organisation. A melting pot of different legal traditions, it develops and services multilateral legal instruments, which respond to global needs.

An increasing number of non-Member States are also becoming Parties to the Hague Conventions. As a result, the work of the Conference encompasses 150 countries around the world.

Personal and family or commercial situations which are connected with more than one country are commonplace in the modern world. These may be affected by differences between the legal systems in those countries. With a view to resolving these differences, States have adopted special rules known as 'private international law' rules.

The statutory mission of the Conference is to work for the 'progressive unification' of these rules. 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.

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 its Statute.This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, provided an assessment of the ongoing work of the Hague Conference on the Judgments Convention.

The analysis focused on the November 2017 Draft Convention, its interplay with international and Union instruments in the field, as well as its potential future impact on the regulation of civil and commercial cross-border disputes.

• Primary Source

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, April 2018: The Hague Convention on Private International Law 'Judgments Convention' http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604954/IPOL_STU(2018)604954_EN.pdf

Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH): Project: The Judgments Project https://www.hcch.net/en/projects/legislative-projects/judgments

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