The 52nd General Assembly held on October 5th through 7th adopted a resolution that includes a dedicated section on private international law (PIL), requesting continuation of the discussion on strategies for the OAS to strengthen its activities in the area of codification and progressive development of PIL (International Law, AG/doc.5779/22 rev. 1).

During that same week, the 5th International Coordination of Secured Transactions Reforms Conference took place at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), in partnership with the other members of the Joint Network Executive Committee: UNCITRAL, the World Bank Group, the Kozolchyk National Law Centre (NatLaw) and the OAS. As on previous occasions, the conference brought together experts from intergovernmental organisations, international financial institutions, non-governmental organisations, regional organisations, government agencies that are active in the development and implementation of secured transactions and related commercial law reforms. A short report on the meeting is available here.

On September 29th, UNCITRAL Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Days 2022 was launched with this year’s theme, “An enabling legal environment for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs)”. This annual initiative for the region is led by the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in partnership with the American Association on Private International Law (ASADIP) with support of the OAS Department of International Law and the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA). Over the next several weeks, a series of academic events will be held with institutions of higher learning to raise awareness about the work of UNCITRAL and legal instruments concerning simplified incorporation, business registration, access to credit and insolvency. For the calendar of events, click here.

On September 26th and 27th the Department of International Law and the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) co-hosted a virtual meeting of the Legal Advisors on Private International Law within the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the OAS. Presentations were given on Contracts between Merchants with a Contractually Weak Party, a topic that is currently on the agenda of the Inter-American Juridical Committee; the HCCH 1996 Convention on International Child Protection, its practical operation and relevance for the protection of unaccompanied and separated children; as well as, OAS Central Authorities and HCCH National Organs, in the context of the complementarity between regional and global efforts. The session concluded with an open discussion on strategies for the OAS to resume its activities in the area of codification and progressive development of private international law.

The Department of International Law participates in these and other similar activities in furtherance of the OAS General Assembly mandate to continue working in cooperation with other international organizations involved in the field of private international law and to promote its development and greater dissemination.

» To visit the Department of International Law (DIL) website, click here.