The
Governments of the Member States of the Organization
of American States,
DESIROUS
of improving the administration of justice through greater
judicial cooperation among the American States, and
CONSIDERING
that, for the effective application of Article 2 (d)
of the Inter-American Convention on Extraterritorial
Validity of Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards signed
at Montevideo on May 8, 1979, provisions are necessary
to prevent jurisdictional disputes among the States
Parties,
HAVE
AGREED to sign the following Inter-American Convention
on Jurisdiction in the International Sphere for the
Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments.
Article
1: For the purposes of the extraterritorial validity
of foreign judgments, the requirement of jurisdiction
in the international sphere is deemed to be satisfied
when the judicial or other adjudicatory authority of
the State Party that rendered the judgment would have
had jurisdiction in accordance with any of the following
provisions:
A.
In an action in persona for a money judgment, any of
the following bases or, if applicable, that provided
for in section D of this article shall be satisfied:
1.
At the time the action was initiated, the defendant,
if a natural person, had his domicile or habitual residence
in the territory of the State Party in which judgment
was rendered or, if a juridical person, had its principal
place of business in that territory;
2.
In an action against a private non-commercial or business
enterprise, the defendant had its principal place of
business at the time the action was initiated in the
State Party in which judgment was rendered or was organized
in that State Party;
3.
In an action against a branch, agency, or affiliate
of a private non-commercial or business enterprise,
the activities that gave rise to such action took place
in the State Party in which judgment was rendered, or
4.
In the case of non-exclusive fora permitting submission
to other fora, the defendant either consented in writing
to the jurisdiction of the judicial or other adjudicatory
authority that rendered the judgment or, despite making
an appearance, failed to submit a timely challenge to
the jurisdiction of that authority.
B.
In an action involving rights relating to tangible movable
property, either of the following bases shall be satisfied:
1.
The property was located, at the time the action was
initiated, in the territory of the State Party in which
the judgment was rendered, or
2.
Any of the bases provided for in section A of this article
is satisfied.
C.
In an action involving property rights relating to immovable
property, the property was located, at the time the
action was initiated, in the territory of the State
Party in which the judgment was rendered.
D.
In an action arising from an international business
contract, the parties agreed in writing to submit to
the jurisdiction of the State Party in which the judgment
was rendered, provided that such jurisdiction was not
established in an abusive manner and had a reasonable
connection with the subject matter of the action.
Article
2:
The requirements for jurisdiction in the international
sphere shall also be deemed to be satisfied if, in the
opinion of the judicial or other adjudicatory authority
of the State Party in which the judgment is to be given
effect, the judicial or other adjudicatory authority
that rendered the judgment assumed jurisdiction in order
to avoid a denial of justice because of the absence
of a competent judicial or other adjudicatory authority.
Article
3: In case of a judgment made on a counterclaim,
the requirement of jurisdiction in the international
sphere shall be deemed to be satisfied if:
1.
One of the foregoing provisions would have been satisfied,
had the counterclaim been brought as an independent
action;
2.
The principal claim satisfied one of the foregoing provisions
and the counterclaim arose out of the transaction or
occurrence on which the principal claim was based.
Article
4: The extraterritorial validity of the judgment
may be denied if the judgment has infringed the exclusive
jurisdiction of the State Party in which it is being
invoked.
Article
5: Foreign judgments shall not have extraterritorial
validity unless, in addition to being final and non-appealable,
they are entitled to recognition and execution throughout
the territory of the State Party in which they were
rendered.
Article
6:
This Convention shall apply only to the cases
governed by the foregoing articles and shall not apply
to the following subjects:
a.
Personal status and capacity of natural persons;
b.
Divorce, annulment, and marital property;
c.
Child support and alimony;
d.
Decedents' estates (testate or intestate);
e.
Bankruptcy, insolvency proceedings, composition with
creditors, or other similar proceedings;
f.
Liquidation of business enterprises;
g.
Labor matters;
h.
Social security;
i.
Arbitration;
j.
Torts, and
k.
Maritime and aviation matters.
Article
7: The States Parties may declare that they will
also apply this Convention to interlocutory rulings
that discontinue proceedings, to the decisions of non-adjudicatory
authorities that perform some adjudicatory function,
and to judgments in penal proceedings ordering compensation
for damages for wrongful action.
Article
8: The rules contained in this Convention shall
not limit any broader provisions contained in bilateral
or multilateral conventions among the States Parties
regarding jurisdiction in the international sphere or
more favorable practices in regard to the extraterritorial
validity of foreign judgments.
Article
9: This Convention shall be open for signature by
the Member States of the Organization of American States.
Article
10: This Convention is subject to ratification.
The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States.
Article
11: This Convention shall remain open for accession
by any other State. The instruments of accession shall
be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States.
Article
12:
A signatory State of the Inter-American Convention
on Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments and
Arbitral Awards, signed in Montevideo on May 8, 1979,
may, in addition, declare at any time that this Convention
shall be applied to determine the jurisdiction in the
international sphere referred to in Article 2 (d) of
the aforesaid Convention.
If
not made at the time of the signing of this Convention,
and if not contained in the instrument of ratification
of or accession to this Convention, such declarations
shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the
Organization of American States, which shall notify
the signatory States of the content of such declarations.
Article
13: This Convention shall enter into force on the
thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the second
instrument of ratification.
For
each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after
the deposit of the second instrument of ratification,
the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth
day after deposit by such State of its instrument of
ratification or accession.
Article
14: If a State Party has two or more territorial
units in which different systems of law apply in relation
to the matters dealt with in this Convention, it may,
at the time of signature, ratification or accession,
declare that this Convention shall extend to all its
territorial units or only to one or more of them.
Such
declaration may be modified by subsequent declarations,
which shall expressly indicate the territorial unit
or units to which this Convention applies. Such subsequent
declarations shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat
of the Organization of American States, and shall become
effective thirty days after the date of their receipt.
Article
15:
This Convention shall remain in force indefinitely,
but any of the States Parties may denounce it. The instrument
of denunciation shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
After one year from the date of deposit of the instrument
of denunciation, the Convention shall no longer be in
effect for the denouncing State, but shall remain in
effect for the other States Parties.
Article
16: The original instrument of this Convention,
the English, French, Portuguese and Spanish texts of
which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States, which shall forward an authenticated copy of
its text to the Secretariat of the United Nations for
registration and publication in accordance with Article
102 of its Charter. The General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States shall notify the Member States of
the Organization and the States that have acceded to
the Convention of the signatures, deposits of instruments
of ratification, accession and denunciation as well
as of reservations, if any. It shall also transmit the
declarations referred to in Articles 7, 12 and 14 of
this Convention.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries,
duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments,
have signed this Convention.
DONE
AT LA PAZ, Republic of Bolivia, on the twenty-fourth
day of May, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four.