Seventh Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (in planning)    
Preliminary report on selection of topics for CIDIP-VII

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PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES COMMITTEE ON JURIDICAL AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS

OEA/Ser.G
P/CAJP-2094/03
22 October 2003
Original: Spanish

SELECTION OF AGENDA TOPICS FOR SEVENTH INTER-AMERICAN SPECIALIZED CONFERENCES ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW (CIDIP-VII) 

--Preliminary Background and Guidelines--

 October 16, 2003 

(Document prepared by the Department of International Law - Secretariat for Legal Affairs (SLA))

II.  CIDIP Process

 The CIDIP process is the principal instrument of the OAS in the development of private international law in the Western Hemisphere and plays an extremely important role the codification and harmonization of private international law throughout the region.  The OAS recurrently holds CIDIP Conferences approximately every four to six years. 

The influence of the CIDIP process in the Americas is evident by the quantity and quality of instruments it has produced and subsequently approved by OAS Member States.  To date, CIDIP has adopted 25 instruments, 21 of which are currently in effect.  Additionally, many CIDIP conventions have received large numbers of ratifications thereby establishing a high standard for codification of private international law. 

As the region moves toward greater economic integration, the importance of the CIDIP process is reinforced by greater movement of persons, goods and services across borders.  This interdependence, in turn, requires greater harmonization and standardization of private international law.  As a result of these needs, the most recent CIDIP Conferences have begun to move beyond procedural law topics predominant in earlier Conferences (e.g., jurisdiction, choice of law, enforcement of judgments, etc.) and have to move towards reforming areas of substantive law (e.g., commercial law, banking law, transportation law, etc.).  In addition, CIDIP has also begun to use methods for drafting legal instruments that are different from traditional conventions, also predominant in earlier Conferences.