The Hague Asia-Pacific Conference on Private International Law Pushes for Harmonization of Legal Systems to Enhance Cross-border Transactions

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo (center) with Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya (fourth from right), Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo (fifth from right), HCCH Secretary General Dr. Christophe Bernasconi (fifth from left), and HCCH Deputy Secretary General Gérardine Goh Escolar (fourth from left) during the the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Asia Pacific Week (APW) Manila 2022 last 18 to 20 October at the Makati Diamond Residences, Manila. (The Hague PE photo)

MANILA, 21 October 2022 – The Philippines successfully hosted the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Asia Pacific Week (APW) Manila 2022 last 18 to 20 October at the Makati Diamond Residences, Manila. The conference brought together some 250 international law experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors, and the academe across the Asia Pacific region. Another 200 participants also joined online.

With the theme “Enabling Cross-Border Cooperation in the Region and Beyond,” the three-day conference allowed participants to know more about the HCCH and its work while exchanging regional experiences and perspectives through ten sessions covering topics across three main areas: International Family and Child Protection Law, Transnational Litigation and Apostille, International Commercial, Digital, and Financial Law. 

In his keynote address, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo underscored the significance to the country’s efficient administrative and adjudicative system of the adoption of key HCCH conventions in facilitating cross-border transactions, processes and enforcement of decisions or judgments. 

Dr. Christophe Bernasconi, HCCH Secretary General, conveyed his appreciation to the Philippines for hosting APW Manila 2022 and thereby helping promote awareness of the HCCH to the Asia Pacific legal community. 

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo meanwhile reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to supporting HCCH conventions. “To date, the Philippines is the only country in Asia which has ratified the Child Support Convention…The Philippines remains committed to supporting HCCH conventions that are aligned with our foreign policy and which are beneficial to our people,” said the Secretary.

Presenting the Philippine perspective on the benefits of HCCH membership, Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya noted that “when adopting the best practices embodied in the HCCH Conventions, the Philippines and other Contracting Parties can promote their rule of law domestically and internationally and also enhance economic development.” Ambassador Malaya likewise recommended for the Philippines to also consider becoming a party to the HCCH Child Protection Convention and the HCCH Evidence Convention. 

Also sharing regional experiences at the conference were international law experts from Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Mongolia, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States of America. 

HCCH Secretary General Bernasconi and Professor Sedfrey Candelaria, Vice Chairperson of the Philippine Judicial Academy, facilitated the closing plenary whereby participants adopted a strong concluding statement which, among others, recognized that HCCH Conventions and Instruments offer effective multilateral solutions to private international law problems, with proven international standards that are widely accepted, respect diversity of legal traditions, and enable the use of technology to enhance their operation.

The Philippine Bar Association, the country’s oldest voluntary national organization of practicing lawyers, also delivered its statement of support for HCCH and urged the Philippine accession to the Evidence Convention to help address “the complexities of litigation in the Philippines where party litigants and witnesses are already located abroad, affected by the diaspora of more than ten million overseas Filipinos and the greater mobility and interconnectivity resulting from globalization.”

The HCCH APW Manila 2022 was organized by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Philippine Judicial Academy, UP College of Law, the Permanent Bureau of HCCH, and the Embassy of the Philippines in The Hague.

The Philippines became a Member of the HCCH in 2010. Out of the 39 HCCH Conventions, the Philippines is a Contracting State to five, namely: the Intercountry Adoption Convention, Child Abduction Convention, Apostille Convention, Service Convention, and most recently, the Child Support Convention.

For more information on the HCCH, please visit https://www.hcch.net/en/home. END

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo. (The Hague PE photo)

Dr. Christophe Bernasconi, HCCH Secretary General. (The Hague PE photo)

Luncheon Meeting with Integrated Bar of the Philippines. (The Hague PE photo) 

Signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the HCCH and the University of the Philippines College of Law. (The Hague PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.thehaguepe.dfa.gov.ph or  https://www.facebook.com/PHinTheNetherlands/.