[Hague-jur-commercial-law] Negotiations scheduled for December 1-9, 2003

[Manon Anne Ress]

It is now official and public -- the Hague Conference has scheduled the
negotiations for the Choice of Court Convention for December 1-9, 2003.

here is the Hague Conference Secretary General letter:

The Secretary General

c o p y

L.c. ON No 35(03)

Convocation Special Commission on Judgments, 1- 9 December 2003

Dear Madam, Sir,

	With circular L.c. ON No 25(03) dated 16 April 2003, the Permanent 
Bureau communicated to the Member States of the Hague Conference on 
Private International Law the Preliminary Result of the Work of the 
Informal Working Group on the Judgments Project which was achieved at 
the third meeting of the group, held in The Hague from 25 to 28 March 
2003, and invited the Member States to inform the Permanent Bureau no 
later than 31 July 2003 whether they agreed that this draft text should 
be put forward as the basis for the work of a Special Commission to be 
convened in December 2003.

	This invitation was based on a decision of the Special Commission on 
General Affairs and Policy of the Conference at its meeting held in The 
Hague from 1 to 3 April 2003, which also decided that “[o]n the basis of 
the reaction by Governments to such letter, the Secretary General shall 
determine whether there is sufficient support for the reference of the 
draft to a Special Commission and, if so, convoke it.”

	I have the honour of informing Member States that, as of 11 August 
2003, the Permanent Bureau has received replies from:

Australia	Hungary	Poland
Canada 	Japan 	Romania
China		Malaysia 	Slovakia
Czech Republic	Mexico 	Swizerland
The European Community 	New Zeland	United States of America

2/..

./.		The replies appear as an Annex to this letter. Even though some 
replies indicate that further clarification and/or improvements will be 
needed, all replies concur in the view that the draft text should be put 
forward as the basis for the work of a Special Commission to be convened 
in December 2003. In the light of the important number and the nature of 
the replies received so far, I am now in a position to determine that 
there is, in effect, sufficient support for the reference of the draft 
to such a Special Commission. I would remind National Organs that the 
Special Commission on General Affairs and Policy of April 2003 also 
affirmed “that any decisions to convene a Special Commission in December 
2003 concerning the draft text on choice of court agreements shall not 
preclude any subsequent work on the remaining issues with regard to 
jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil 
and commercial matters”.

	I therefore have the honour to convene herewith the Special Commission 
on Jurisdiction, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in 
Civil and Commercial Matters.

	The meeting will take place from Monday 1 December (9:30 am) until 
Tuesday 9 December 2003 (6:00 pm) in the building of the Hague Academy 
of International Law, on the grounds of the Peace Palace at The Hague.

	A provisional agenda and several preliminary documents including 
research papers concerning mechanisms for the transfer of cases within 
federal systems and the relationship with other international 
instruments will be communicated at a later date.

	With a view to thoroughly preparing the Special Commission meeting, 
Member States are invited to submit, as soon as possible but in any 
event before 1 November 2003 any comments or observations on the 
substance of the text they may have, preferably in electronic form. 
Comments received before 1 November 2003 will be made available to all 
Member States in advance of the meeting of the Special Commission.

	With a view to the practical organisation of the meeting, the Permanent 
Bureau would be obliged if you would be so kind as to let us know before 
1 November 2003 whether Your Government will be represented at this 
meeting and, if so, to inform us of the name, function and (e-mail) 
address of the expert(s) designated.

	I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to You, Madam, Sir, 
assurances of my highest consideration and esteem.



	Hans van Loon


./.	Annex mentioned.

THE HAGUE, 19 August 2003

To the National Organs
Copy for information to the Embassies


-- 
Manon Anne Ress
Consumer Project on Technology
www.cptech.org
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
manon.ress@cptech.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176