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HCCH Monthly Update: June 2021
Conventions & Instruments
On 31 May 2021, Georgia deposited its instrument of accession to the HCCH 1965 Service Convention and the HCCH 1970 Evidence Convention. With the accession of Georgia, the Service Convention now has 79 Contracting Parties. It will enter into force for Georgia on 1 January 2022, subject to the Article 28 procedure. For the Evidence Convention, with the accession of Georgia it now has 64 Contracting Parties. The Convention will enter into force for Georgia on 30 July 2021. More information is available here.
Meetings & Events
On 1 June 2021, the HCCH and the Asian Business Law Institute co-hosted the webinar “HCCH 1970 Evidence Convention and Remote Taking of Evidence by Video-link”, part of the ongoing celebrations of the Evidence Convention’s golden anniversary. More information is available here.
On 1 June 2021, the HCCH participated in a virtual Regional Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care, organised by the Council of Europe in preparation to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion on this theme. More information is available here.
On 21 June 2021, the HCCH participated in the virtual inaugural event of the Nigeria Group on Private International Law. The recording of the event is available here.
Vacancy: The HCCH is currently seeking an Assistant Legal Officer. The deadline for the submission of applications is 23 July 2021 (00:00 CEST). More information is available here.
These monthly updates are published by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), providing an overview of the latest developments. More information and materials are available on the HCCH website.
Series: Webinar climate change litigation – 1 July
The ERC Building EU Civil Justice team in Rotterdam is running a series of seminars, covering a variety of topics in the field of European civil justice and international litigation.
On Thursday 1 July, 16-18 hrs CET, the webinar is dedicated to the topic Representing Future Generations: Private Law aspects of Climate Change Litigation. Speakers are Chantal Mak, Geert Van Calster and Sanne Biesmans, and the panel is moderated by Jos Hoevenaars. They will address the relationship between climate litigation, fundamental rights and the role of European judges; private international law aspects of climate litigation and strategic aspects; and liability aspects of climate litigation and implications of the recent Dutch Shell judgment (see our earlier blogpost).
Participation is free of charge. You can register here at Eventbrite.
The two remaining sessions of the series are dedicated to:
- The Arbitralization of Courts – Friday, 2 July (09:30-11:30 CET), with Georgia Antonopoulou and Masood Ahmed as speakers and moderated by Xandra Kramer (register)
- European Civil Justice in Transition: Past, Present & Future – Thursday 15 July (15.30-17.30 CET) with Alan Uzelac, Burkhard Hess, John Sorabji and Eva Storskrubb, moderated by Alexandre Biard and Xandra Kramer (register)
Just published: Cerqueira’s article on “International Commission on Civil Status. A unique, exemplary and necessary International Organization” translated into German
The summary below has been kindly provided by the author:
The International Commission on Civil Status has been working for seventy years for international cooperation in the field of civil status. In this period, 34 Conventions and 11 Recommendations were adopted. Notably, the Commission developed innovative methods, for example, multilingual Forms and Coding of entries in order to overcome translation problems related to civil status documents. Its results are remarkable to a point that some of its instruments serve as a model specially for the European Union.
Despite all the work already accomplished and the many projects still existing, the International Commission on Civil Status is now in risk of vanishing, mainly because of France and Germany’s recent withdrawal.
Still, its know-how is vital in the face of the new challenges posed by changes in the civil status of persons: same-sex marriage, medically assisted reproduction, surrogate motherhood, etc. In this context and for the common interest of present and future generations, rather than abandoning the Commission and the question of civil status in the international arena, it is more than ever time to get involved, by joining it and actively participating in its work.
In that perspective, the article constitutes a plea intended to convince the German authorities of course, but also those of other States, former members of the International Commission on Civil Status or not, to invest in it in order to save an institution which works in an essential field for private relations of an international character.
Such an investment would be all the more appropriate given that the International Commission on Civil Status has fundamentally changed its statutes and its mode of operation in recent years. For example, English is now the second official language of the Commission beside French.
These efforts must henceforth be accompanied. If this were not the case, the risk of losing all the patiently drawn up normative acquis which goes well beyond civil status in the strict sense but also affects family and nationality law exists.
The article is part of an awareness campaign carried out by eminent Authors for several months now.
Source: G. Cerqueira, « Internationale Kommission für das Zivilstandswesen. Eine einzigartige, beispielhafte und notwendige internationale Organisation», StAZ Das Standesamt, n. 6, Juni, 2021, p. 169-170.