The Hague Conference on Private International Law Adopts the Foreign Judgments Convention
The Philippine delegation, headed by Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda (rightmost) together with The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Secretary General Christophe Bernasconi (second from right) after signing the Final Act adopting the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments. Other members of the Philippine delegation are Philippine Embassy in The Hague Second Secretary and Consul Zoilo A. Velasco and Edgar Adolfo V. Guibone, and University of the Philippines-College of Law professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan of the. (The Hague PE photo)
THE HAGUE 09 July 2019 — The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) adopted the text of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, which was negotiated during the 22nd Diplomatic Session of the HCCH held on 18 June to 02 July 2019 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.
Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda led the signing for the Philippines of the Final Act, which adopted the text of the said Convention, at a ceremony in the Peace Palace.
Other members of the Philippine Delegation who participated in the negotiations of the Convention were Philippine Embassy in The Hague Second Secretary and Consul Zoilo A. Velasco and Embassy's Legal and Signing Officer Edgar Adolfo V. Guibone, and University of the Philippines-College of Law professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan. Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan, an expert in private international law, was appointed as one of the Vice-Chairs of the Diplomatic Session.
The Foreign Judgments Convention aims to create a uniform set of core rules that would facilitate the effective recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in civil or commercial matters. It is a multilateral treaty on judicial cooperation which aims to promote effective access to justice by allowing all legal persons to have court judgments in their favor recognized and enforced in other countries which are parties to the Convention.
This is would facilitate rules-based multilateral trade and investment and cross-border commercial and civil transactions.
The signing of the Final Act by the HCCH Members is not yet the signing of the Convention itself, but is only an adoption of the text negotiated during the 22nd Diplomatic Session. The Convention will enter into force after two States have signed and ratified the same. Only Uruguay has so far signed the Convention during the ceremony on 02 July 2019. END
For more information, visit https://www.thehaguepe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinTheNetherlands/.