Statement by Mr. Arjan Hamburgr, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 28 October 2005 in the General Assembly

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Thank you Mr Chairman,

Before I turn to an introduction of the item before us, the observer status for the “Hague Conference on Private International Law”, let me state that in addition to the countries already mentioned in document A/C.6/60/L.9, the following countries have become co-sponsor of the draft resolution: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The Hague Conference, which is based in The Hague, the Netherlands, was founded in 1955, although its origins go back to 1893. It is an intergovernmental organisation which currently has 65 member States from all continents. Sixty other states, without being a member of the Organisation, are parties to one or more Hague Conventions.

The statutory mission of the Conference is to work for the progressive unification of the rules of private international law. This involves finding internationally agreed approaches to issues such as jurisdiction of the courts, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of judgements. The work covers a wide range of areas such as commercial and banking law, international civil procedure as well as family law.

Between 1951 and 2005, 36 multilateral treaties were adopted. Examples are the Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, a convention on child abduction and most recently a Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in respect of Securities held with an Intermediary.

Apart from the development and implementation of common rules of private international law, the Hague Conference also provides legal services and technical assistance for the benefit of Member States and States parties to the Hague Conventions.

In all areas of its work, cooperation exists with the United Nations system. Let me mention a few examples of this cooperation. For a more extensive overview, I refer to the explanatory memorandum that was attached to the Netherlands request for the item to be placed on the agenda, as contained in document A/60/232.

For example, close tripartite co-operation has been developed between the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), and the HCCH.

In the area of legal co-operation and litigation, co-operation exists with UNCITRAL and there is great potential for wider co-operation. The Hague Conventions on abolishing legalization, service of documents abroad, taking of evidence abroad, and access to justice are basic instruments for legal co-operation in a globalizing world. They could greatly facilitate transnational legal contacts in respect of both private relationships and business transactions.

The HCCH also works together with The United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees in the area of law relating to children and family. The focus here is very much on the Hague Conventions on International Child Abduction, on Adoption and on Protection of Children.

In the field of commercial and finance law, the HCCH has cooperated in the past with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on issues such as transfer of technology to developing countries and the law applicable to licensing agreements and know-how and with UNCITRAL on international sales and negotiable instruments.

Despite the existing cooperation between the HCCH and the United Nations system, there is scope for extending and deepening that. It is therefore our view that there is a need to formalize the relationship between the United Nations and the Hague Conference on Private International Law. By granting an observer status in the General Assembly to the Organisation, more systematic as well as more programmatic forms of co-operation can be achieved, to the benefit of all States Members of the United Nations and their citizens.

Thank you Mr Chairman.