CIDIP: This Convention was adopted at the Third Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP-III), held in La Paz, Bolivia, May 1984.  

Ratifications: To date, the following countries have ratified this Convention: [click here] 

Objective: The purpose of this Convention is to establish a framework for the extraterritorial validity of foreign judgments in order to prevent jurisdictional disputes between States party.  

Summary: This Convention establishes applicable rules for the various types of legal proceedings.  With regard to actions against individuals (“actions in persona”) for a money judgment, the Convention will apply under the following circumstances: 1) in an action against a natural person, the Convention will apply if at the time at which the action was initiated such defendant had his domicile or habitual residence in the territory of the State Party in which judgment was rendered or, if the defendant is a juridical person, if its principal place of business is in that jurisdiction; 2) in an action against a private non-commercial or business enterprise, the Convention will apply if at the time the action was initiated such defendant had its principal place of business in the State Party in which judgment was rendered or if the defendant was created or incorporated in that State Party; 3) in an action against a branch, agency, or affiliate of a private non-commercial or business enterprise, the Convention will apply if 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 Convention will apply if 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.

With regard to actions relating to tangible movable property, the Convention will apply under the following circumstances:  1) if, at the time the action was initiated, the property in question was located in the territory of the State Party in which the judgment was rendered; or 2) if there is a basis for application of the Convention under the criteria for actions against persons.    

With regard to actions relating to immovable property (“real property”), the Convention will apply if the property, is located in the territory of the State Party in which the judgment was rendered.  

With regard to actions arising from an international business contract, the Convention will apply if 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 of the action.   With regard to counterclaims, the Convention will apply under the following circumstances:  1) if there is a basis for application of the Convention under the criteria for actions against persons or actions against property, as described above, had the counterclaim been brought as an independent action; and 2)  if the principal claim is satisfied by one of the foregoing provisions and the counterclaim arose out of the transaction or occurrence on which the principal claim was based.