Baker, Hannah; Groff, Maja --- "The impact of the Hague Conventions on European family law" [2016] ELECD 219; in Scherpe, M. Jens (ed), "European Family Law Volume I" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 143

Book Title: European Family Law Volume I

Editor(s): Scherpe, M. Jens

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785363009

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: The impact of the Hague Conventions on European family law

Author(s): Baker, Hannah; Groff, Maja

Number of pages: 66

Abstract/Description:

The Hague Conference on Private International Law is a permanent international intergovernmental organisation with 78 Members (77 States and the European Union (EU)) from all regions of the world. The early history of the Hague Conference, with its genesis in 1893, is a predominantly European history, with the organisation’s origins as an ad hoc meeting of 13 European States. The Hague Conference has subsequently developed into a truly global organisation with regional offices in Latin America and in the Asia-Pacific region, while at the same time maintaining strong ties with Europe. Indeed, the Statute of the Hague Conference was amended in 2005 to allow Membership in the Organisation of ‘Regional Economic Integration Organisations’ (REIOs) with appropriate competence in matters within the purview of the Hague Conference, such as the EU, in order to reflect modern political and policy-making realities within Europe. Hague instruments in the family law area are among the most widely-ratified Hague Conventions, attracting States Parties from across the globe and also considerable interest from other international organisations working in the field. This chapter presents an array of areas of family law in which the Hague Conference is and has been active, and thus where the impact of the Hague Conference’s work on European Family Law can be discerned. Of necessity, we have taken only a selection of this work, focusing on international child protection, international protection of adults and relations between (former) spouses.