Private International Law
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.
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 11-1-09)
The UNCITRAL Commission held its annual meeting in Vienna June 29-July 17. The Commission, inter alia, adopted a UNCITRAL Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency and authorized the continuation of work in several areas, including: revisions to the 1994 UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement; revisions to the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules; and preparation of a new annex, on the intersection of intellectual property law and secured finance law, to the 2007 UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions. UNCITRAL’s Working Group on International Arbitration and Conciliation met in Vienna September 14-18 and continued its second reading of proposed revisions to the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.L/PIL is consulting with a variety of domestic stakeholders on proposals for implementation of several PIL conventions whose ratification is being considered, including the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Investment Securities Held with an Intermediary; the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements; the UNCITRAL Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit; the UNCITRAL Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts; and the UNCITRAL Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade. Discussions on these matters were held at the annual meeting of the Uniform Law Commission in July. Also, on July 27 L/PIL hosted a public meeting, under the auspices of the Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law (ACPIL), on implementation of the Choice of Court Convention.
On September 22, the United States filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Abbott v. Abbott, which concerns the interpretation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The United States and 15 other nations signed, on September 23, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods, Wholly or Partly by Sea. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on October 6 on the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (Child Support Convention). On October 9, a diplomatic conference in Geneva adopted the UNIDROIT Convention on Substantive Rules Regarding Intermediated Securities. Also on October 9, the 7th Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law approved Registry Regulations to the Model Inter-American Law on Secured Transactions.
The annual ACPIL meeting was held October 19-20 at George Washington University Law School. On October 21, a public meeting was held on current UNCITRAL work on an intellectual property annex to the Secured Finance Guide, in preparation for the November 2-6 meeting of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Security Interests. UNIDROIT held a meeting October 26-27 on a proposed protocol on space assets to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment.
Looking ahead: A Special Commission will meet at the Hague Conference on Private International Law November 10-17 to discuss implementation of the Child Support Convention. UNIDROIT is scheduled to hold a meeting in early December on the proposed space-finance protocol. In addition, there are upcoming meetings of the UNCITRAL Working Groups on Insolvency Law (November 9-13) and Procurement (December 7-11).
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.