Hague Conference on Private International Law

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The Hague Conference on Private International Law (or HCCH, for Hague Conference/Conférence de la Haye) is the preeminent organisation in the area of private international law.

Since its formation in 1893, the purpose of HCCH has been to "work for the progressive unification of the rules of private international law". It has pursued this goal by creating and assisting in the implementation of multilateral conventions promoting the harmonisation of conflict of laws principles in diverse subject matters within private international law. Sixty-five nations are currently members of the Hague Conference, including China, Russia, the United States, and all member states of the European Union.

Recent developments
The 20th and most recent Diplomatic Session of the Conference, held from 14 to 28 June 2005, saw two major developments.

First, the statute of the Conference was amended (for the first time in over 50 years) to expand the possibility of membership to Regional Economic Integration Organisations such as the European Union. Second, the Conference concluded and opened for ratification the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, a project which had been in negotiation for nearly 15 years. States applying this instrument agree to recognize and enforce decisions reached by courts of another signatory State if the dispute was governed by a valid choice of court agreement concluded between the parties to the dispute.


Work-in-Progress -- The Hague Securities Convention
In July 2006 Switzerland and the United States jointly signed the Hague Securities Convention, providing legal certainty to modern forms of holding and transferring securities. This marked an important step in the development of the new legal infrastructure needed to match modern systems for the holding, transfer, and pledge of securities.

The vast quantity of securities are nowadays held, transferred, and pledged by electronic entries to accounts with clearing and settlement systems and other intermediaries, rather than directly in physical form or directly by issuers. The global financial market, which for the OECD countries alone has a volume of more than $2 billion US a day, is in need of a legal regime that deals effectively with this new reality. There is broad agreement in the financial world that the traditional legal rules, ****d on physical transfers and direct holdings, are too diverse, out-dated, and inadequate. The result is legal uncertainty, increased risk, and higher costs for global clearing and settlement, with repercussions at all levels of the global financial market.

The Hague Securities Convention ensures that there is a clear and certain answer to questions such as which law governs the determination of the legal nature of the rights resulting from a credit of securities to a securities account, the steps required for a transfer or pledge of securities to such accounts to be enforceable among the parties and third parties, and the steps required to realise a pledge of securities credited to such accounts.

The European Commission at the same time concluded that "adoption of the Convention would be in the best interest of the Community" and recommended that the Convention "be signed after or with at least two of its main trading partners, the USA included." [1]


Member States
Albania
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Serbia
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela

The Permanent Bureau
Located in a nice old mansion on Scheweningseweg near the Peace Palace, the Permanent Bureau is the Conference's secretariat.

Composition of the Permanent Bureau:

Secretary General Mr J.H.A. (Hans) van Loon

Attaché to the Secretary General Ms Frederike Stikkelbroeck

Deputy Secretary General Mr William Duncan

First Secretaries Mr Christophe Bernasconi Mr Philippe Lortie

Principal Legal Officer Ms Jennifer Degeling

Senior Legal Officer Ms Marion Ely

Legal Officers Ms Mayela Celis Ms Ivana Radic Ms Sandrine Alexandre Ms Juliane Hirsch

Liaison Legal Officer for Latin America Mr Ignacio Goicoechea

Adoption Programme Co-ordinator Ms Laura Martinez-Mora

Senior Administrator Ms Céline Chateau

Website Manager Ms Gerda Boerman

Financial Officer Ms Karin Himpens

Administrative Assistants Ms Laura Molenaar Ms Willy de Zoete Ms Mathilde Waszink Ms Corinne Heinrich

Administrative Assistant for the Adoption Programme Ms Sophie Molina

Publications Assistants Ms Sarah Adam Ms Christelle Gavard

Information Management Assistant Ms Marie-Charlotte Darbas

General Service Officer Mr Willem van der Endt