Welcome to the Private International Law site, maintained by the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law (L/PIL) at the U.S. Department of State. L/PIL is responsible for the negotiation and conclusion of international conventions, model laws and rules, legislative guides, and other instruments governing private transactions that cross international borders. For Current Developments, see below.
This website is intended to provide a convenient location to find information regarding private international law in areas such as trade, finance and banking; judicial assistance; arbitration and judgments; matters involving families and children; and wills, trusts and estates.
The database accessible on this page is organized into the following categories:
Commercial Law
Judicial Assistance
Arbitration and Judgments
Family Law
Wills, Trusts and Estates
General Resources
The categories (other than General Resources) generally contain the following subheadings:
PIL conventions to which the U.S. is a party
PIL conventions for which U.S. ratification/accession is under consideration
Other PIL conventions (illustrative only – not meant to be comprehensive)
Other PIL instruments (e.g., model laws, legislative guides, etc.)
Work in progress
For links to specific conventions or other instruments, please refer to the listings under General Resources for the relevant intergovernmental organizations concerned with the unification and development of private international law: the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCOPIL); the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT); and the Organization of American States (OAS).
In addition, the “Current Developments” section below, which is updated quarterly, provides information on current negotiations and projects, the U.S. Government position on certain matters, and upcoming events.
Persons or organizations wishing to comment on this website or to otherwise contact L/PIL are invited to do so by email, fax or letter to the following:
Keith Loken
Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law
Suite 357, South Building
2430 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037-2851
Fax: (202) 776-8482
Email: smeltzertk@state.gov attn: Trish Smeltzer
Current Developments (updated 4-2-12)
Save the date! The annual meeting of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law (ACPIL) will be held October 11-12, 2012 at The George Washington University Law School. Details will follow in the coming months.
The Private International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law is organizing a conference October 5-6, 2012 to discuss papers submitted on the topic “What is Private International Law”? The deadline for submission of papers is May 15. More information regarding the call for papers and the conference can be found at:
http://www.asil.org/files/29/ASIL_PILIG_CFP2012.pdf
Recent events:
The second part of the Special Commission on the Hague Child Abduction Convention and the Hague Child Protection Convention was held in The Hague January 25-31. Among its conclusions and recommendations, the Special Commission (1) recommended that the Council on General Affairs and Policy authorize the establishment of a working group to develop a Guide to Good Practice on the interpretation and application of Article 13(b) of the Child Abduction Convention (non-return because of grave risk to the child); (2) recommended that the Council consider authorizing the establishing of an expert group to examine the issue of the recognition and enforcement abroad of agreements between parties to child disputes; and (3) recommended that consideration be given, in the development of any relevant future Hague convention, to the inclusion of a legal basis for direct judicial communications.
The UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration and Conciliation met in New York February 6-10 to continue work on the development of rules on transparency in treaty-based investor-State arbitration. Progress was made in identifying how the new transparency rules will apply under investment treaties that are concluded after the rules have been adopted. The Working Group will continue its efforts in Vienna in the fall, with a view toward completion of the transparency rules by summer 2013.
A UNIDROIT study group met in Rome February 7-9 to discuss a draft set of principles designed to improve the enforceability of close-out netting provisions, particularly in cross-border situations. These principles would aim to provide a sound basis, in commercial and insolvency law terms, for risk management and mitigation by financial institutions. The UNIDROIT Governing Council will address whether the draft principles are ready to be discussed in an intergovernmental context.
At a UNIDROIT diplomatic conference February 27- March 9 in Berlin hosted by the German government, a space assets protocol to the Cape Town Convention was adopted. The protocol would extend to satellites and their components the system of asset-based financing that has been successful under the existing protocol on aircraft equipment. The next phase will be the development of a secured finance registry to make the protocol operational.
March 27-28, UNIDROIT held a colloquium in Rio de Janeiro on promoting investor confidence and enhancing legal certainty for securities trading in emerging markets. UNIDROIT will be developing guidance for countries that would like to adopt the modern securities law framework embodied in the Geneva Securities Convention (2009) but that need to fill gaps in related areas of their domestic law.
Looking ahead:
- April 12-14, the Hague Conference on Private International Law will host an expert group to consider possible resumption of the judgments project.
- That meeting will be followed April 17-20 by the annual General Affairs and Policy Council of the Hague Conference, which will establish the organization’s work plan for the coming year.
- April 16-20 in New York, UNCITRAL Working Group I (Procurement) will meet to review the draft Guide to Enactment that is being developed to accompany the 2011 Model Law on Public Procurement.
- UNCITRAL Working Group V (Insolvency) will convene in New York April 30 – May 4. That group is considering, inter alia, issues relating to the concept of center of main interests (COMI).
- The UNIDROIT General Assembly and Governing Council will be meeting in Rome May 7-9.
- UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Security interests), meeting in New York May 14-18, will resume negotiation of a text on the registration of security interests in movable assets.
- Development of generic procedural rules for online dispute resolution (ODR) is on the agenda for UNCITRAL Working Group III (ODR), which meets in New York May 21-25.
- The annual Commission meeting, UNCITRAL’s plenary session, will take place in New York June 25 – July 6.
Recent ACPIL meetings:
1) Public meeting on electronic commerce – January 6, 2012
A public meeting on electronic commerce was held, under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on Private International Law, on January 6, 2012, in the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law, 23rd and D Streets, NW, SA-4, South Building, Washington DC. The meeting was chaired by a representative of the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law.
The public meeting was convened to discuss the October 2011 session of Working Group IV (international electronic commerce) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). At the conclusion of that session, delegations requested that the UNCITRAL Secretariat hold intersessional consultations regarding relevant rules applicable to electronic transferable records, current practice involving the use of electronic transferable records, and potential area in which work by UNCITRAL could be beneficial. The Working Group is expected to convene again next fall.
The attendees shared views regarding the October session, discussed possible areas in which UNCITRAL could contribute to the field, and identified various domestic and international legal regimes that govern, or otherwise relate to, electronic transferable records.
No matter was resolved. No report was approved.
2) Public meeting on online dispute resolution – January 20, 2012
A public meeting of the Study Group on Online Dispute Resolution was held under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on Private International Law on January 20, 2012, at the State Department, Office of Private International Law, South Building, 23rd and C Streets, N.W., Washington, DC.
The meeting was convened to discuss the continuing work in UNCITRAL on the development of online dispute resolution (ODR) legal instruments for resolving both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) cross-border e-commerce disputes, in anticipation of a fourth meeting of the UNCITRAL working group on online dispute resolution scheduled to take place in New York, May 21-25. The working group was established by the Commission in July 2010 pursuant to a U.S. proposal. The UNCITRAL Working Group is preparing generic ODR procedural rules applicable to low-value, high-volume cross-border e-commerce transactions as well as annexes on guidelines and minimum requirements for ODR providers and arbitrators, substantive legal principles for resolving disputes, and a cross-border enforcement mechanism.
The Study Group reviewed the current draft of the proposed UNCITRAL generic ODR procedural rules and the report of the last UNCITRAL Working Group session in November 2011. The discussion centered on scope of the claims to be covered, the need for buyers to be provided fair and adequate notice of any binding arbitration agreement whether pre- or post-dispute, standards for resolving disputes including use of equitable principles, the need for arbitral decisions to be final and binding to ensure effective enforcement, and protections against fraud and misuse.
No matter was resolved. No report was approved. We anticipate that another meeting will be scheduled in advance of the May UNCITRAL working group session.
3) Public meeting on the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements – March 5, 2012
A public meeting of the Study Group on the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements was held, under the auspices of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law, on March 5, 2012, at the Department of State, Harry S Truman Building, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington DC. The meeting was chaired by the Legal Adviser and, after his departure, the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law.
The public meeting was convened to discuss certain key issues that remain unresolved in determining how to implement domestically the Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. It has been proposed that the Convention be implemented through a “cooperative federalism” approach involving parallel federal and state law. Under that approach, states could opt out of the federal statute and instead implement the Convention through state enactment of a uniform act being developed by the Uniform Law Commission.
The principal issues considered by the Study Group at the meeting were: (1) the scope of federal court jurisdiction in cases brought under the Convention, in particular, a proposal for diversity jurisdiction based on minimal diversity; and (2) the applicable law in federal court in a state that has adopted the uniform act, i.e., whether the federal court should apply the federal implementing statute or that state’s enactment of the uniform act.
No matter was resolved. No report was approved.
