STATUTE OF THE HAGUE
CONFERENCE ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
(Entered into force on 15
July 1955)* [1]
The Governments of the
countries hereinafter specified:
the Federal Republic of
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Japan,
Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland;
In view of the permanent
character of the Hague Conference on Private International Law;
Desiring to stress that
character;
Having, to that end,
deemed it desirable to provide the Conference with a Statute;
Have agreed upon the
following provisions:
Article 1
The purpose of the Hague
Conference is to work for the progressive unification of the rules of private
international law.
Article 2
(1) Members of the Hague Conference on
Private International Law are the States which have already participated in one
or more Sessions of the Conference and which accept the present Statute.
(2) Any other State, the participation of
which is from a juridical point of view of importance for the work of the
Conference, may become a Member. The admission of new Member States shall be
decided upon by the Governments of the participating States, upon the proposal
of one or more of them, by a majority of the votes cast, within a period of six
months from the date on which that proposal is submitted to the Governments.
(3) The admission shall become effective upon
the acceptance of the present Statute by the State concerned.
Article 3
(1) The Member States of the Conference may,
at a meeting concerning general affairs and policy where the majority of Member
States is present, by a majority of the votes cast, decide to admit also as a
Member any Regional Economic Integration Organisation which has submitted an
application for membership to the Secretary General. References to Members
under this Statute shall include such Member Organisations, except as otherwise
expressly provided. The admission shall become effective upon the acceptance of
the Statute by the Regional Economic Integration Organisation concerned.
(2) To be eligible to apply for membership of
the Conference, a Regional Economic Integration Organisation must be one
constituted solely by sovereign States, and to which its Member States have
transferred competence over a range of matters within the purview of the
Conference, including the authority to make decisions binding on its Member
States in respect of those matters.
(3) Each Regional Economic Integration
Organisation applying for membership shall, at the time of such application,
submit a declaration of competence specifying the matters in respect of which
competence has been transferred to it by its Member States.
(4) Each Member Organisation and its Member
States shall ensure that any change regarding the competence of the Member
Organisation or in its membership shall be notified to the Secretary General,
who shall circulate such information to the other Members of the Conference.
(5) Member States of the Member Organisation
shall be presumed to retain competence over all matters in respect of which
transfers of competence have not been specifically declared or notified.
(6) Any Member of the Conference may request
the Member Organisation and its Member States to provide information as to
whether the Member Organisation has competence in respect of any specific
question which is before the Conference. The Member Organisation and its Member
States shall ensure that this information is provided on such request.
(7) The Member Organisation shall exercise
membership rights on an alternative basis with its Member States that are
Members of the Conference, in the areas of their respective competences.
(8) The Member Organisation may exercise on
matters within its competence, in any meetings of the Conference in which it is
entitled to participate, a number of votes equal to the number of its Member
States which have transferred competence to the Member Organisation in respect
of the matter in question, and which are entitled to vote in and have
registered for such meetings. Whenever the Member Organisation exercises its
right to vote, its Member States shall not exercise theirs, and conversely.
(9) "Regional Economic Integration
Organisation" means an international organisation that is constituted
solely by sovereign States, and to which its Member States have transferred
competence over a range of matters, including the authority to make decisions
binding on its Member States in respect of those matters.
Article 4
(1) The Council on General Affairs and Policy
(hereafter "the Council"), composed of all Members, has charge of the
operation of the Conference. Meetings of the Council shall, in principle, be
held annually.
(2) The Council ensures such operation
through a Permanent Bureau, the activities of which it directs.
(3) The Council shall examine all proposals
intended to be placed on the Agenda of the Conference. It shall be free to
determine the action to be taken on such proposals.
(4) The Netherlands Standing Government
Committee, instituted by Royal Decree of 20 February 1897 with a view to
promoting the codification of private international law, shall, after
consultation with the Members of the Conference, determine the date of the
Diplomatic Sessions.
(5) The Standing Government Committee shall
address itself to the Government of the Netherlands for the convocation of the
Members. The Chair of the Standing Government Committee presides over the
Sessions of the Conference.
(6) The Ordinary Sessions of the Conference
shall, in principle, be held every four years.
(7) If necessary, the Council may, after
consultation with the Standing Government Committee, request the Government of
the Netherlands to convene the Conference in Extraordinary Session.
(8) The Council may consult the Standing
Government Committee on any other matter relevant to the Conference.
Article 5
(1) The Permanent Bureau shall have its seat
at The Hague. It shall be composed of a Secretary General and four Secretaries
who shall be appointed by the Government of the Netherlands upon presentation
by the Standing Government Committee.
(2) The Secretary General and the Secretaries
must possess appropriate legal knowledge and practical experience. In their
appointment account shall also be taken of diversity of geographic
representation and of legal expertise.
(3) The number of Secretaries may be
increased after consultation with the Council and in accordance with Article
10.
Article 6
Under the direction of
the Council, the Permanent Bureau shall be charged with -
a) the preparation and organisation of the
Sessions of the Hague Conference and the meetings of the Council and of any
Special Commissions;
b) the work of the Secretariat of the
Sessions and meetings envisaged above;
c) all the tasks which are included in the
activity of a secretariat.
Article 7
(1) With a view to facilitating communication
between the Members of the Conference and the Permanent Bureau, the Government
of each of the Member States shall designate a national organ and each Member
Organisation a contact organ.
(2) The Permanent Bureau may correspond with
all the organs so designated and with the competent international
organisations.
Article 8
(1) The Sessions and, in the interval between
Sessions, the Council, may set up Special Commissions to prepare draft
Conventions or to study all questions of private international law which come
within the purpose of the Conference.
(2) The Sessions, Council and Special
Commissions shall, to the furthest extent possible, operate on the basis of
consensus.
Article 9
(1) The budgeted costs of the Conference
shall be apportioned among the Member States of the Conference.
(2) A Member Organisation shall not be
required to contribute in addition to its Member States to the annual budget of
the Conference, but shall pay a sum to be determined by the Conference, in
consultation with the Member Organisation, to cover additional administrative
expenses arising out of its membership.
(3) In any case, travelling and living
expenses of the delegates to the Council and the Special Commissions shall be
payable by the Members represented.
Article 10
(1) The budget of the Conference shall be
submitted each year to the Council of Diplomatic Representatives of the Member
States at The Hague for approval.
(2) These Representatives shall also
apportion among the Member States the expenses which are charged in that budget
to the latter.
(3) The Diplomatic Representatives shall meet
for such purposes under the chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Article 11
(1) The expenses resulting from the Ordinary
and Extraordinary Sessions of the Conference shall be borne by the Government
of the Netherlands.
(2) In any case, the travelling and living
expenses of the delegates shall be payable by the respective Members.
Article 12
The usages of the
Conference shall continue to be observed on all points, unless contrary to the
present Statute or to the Regulations.
Article 13
(1) Amendments to the Statute must be adopted
by consensus of the Member States present at a meeting concerning general
affairs and policy.
(2) Such amendments shall enter into force,
for all Members, three months after they are approved by two thirds of the
Member States in accordance with their respective internal procedures, but not
earlier than nine months from the date of their adoption.
(3) The meeting referred to in paragraph 1
may change by consensus the periods of time referred to in paragraph 2.
Article 14
To provide for their
execution, the provisions of the present Statute will be complemented by
Regulations. The Regulations shall be established by the Permanent Bureau and
submitted to a Diplomatic Session, the Council of Diplomatic Representatives or
the Council on General Affairs and Policy for approval.
Article 15
(1) The present Statute shall be submitted
for acceptance to the Governments of States which participated in one or more
Sessions of the Conference. It shall enter into force as soon as it is accepted
by the majority of the States represented at the Seventh Session.
(2) The statement of acceptance shall be
deposited with the Netherlands Government, which shall make it known to the
Governments referred to in the first paragraph of this Article.
(3) The Netherlands Government shall, in the
case of the admission of a new Member, inform all Members of the declaration of
acceptance of that new Member.
Article 16
(1) Each Member may denounce the present
Statute after a period of five years from the date of its entry into force
under the terms of Article 15, paragraph 1.
(2) Notice of the denunciation shall be given
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands at least
six months before the expiration of the budgetary year of the Conference, and
shall become effective at the expiration of the said year, but only with
respect to the Member which has given notice thereof.
The English and French
texts of this Statute, as amended on 1 January 2007, are equally authentic.
________________________________________
* The Statute was adopted
during the Seventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law
on 31 October 1951 and entered into force on 15 July 1955. Amendments were
adopted during the Twentieth Session on 30 June 2005 (Final Act, C), approved
by Members on 30 September 2006 and entered into force on 1 January 2007.
[1] As of 30 June 2005,
in addition to the founding Member States mentioned in the Preamble, the
following States had accepted the Statute: Albania, Argentina, Australia,
Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, People's
Republic of China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro,
Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America,
Uruguay, Venezuela.
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