Recent Outcomes

Overview

Private International Law is the legal framework composed of conventions, protocols, model laws, legal guides, uniform documents, case law, practice and custom, as well as other documents and instruments, which regulate relationships between individuals in an international context. The OAS, through the Department of International Law of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, plays a central role in the harmonization, codification and development of Private International Law in the Western Hemisphere.

One of the principal components of this work in the Inter-American context has been the Specialized Conferences on Private International Law. Known by its acronym in Spanish as “CIDIP”, these Conferences have produced 26 international instruments (including 20 Conventions, 3 Protocols, 1 Model Law and 2 Uniform Documents). In more recent years, in its capacity as Technical Secretariat for the Inter-American Juridical Committee, the Department has supported work of this Committee in a number of topics in the field Private International Law, which has resulted in the production of several soft law instruments (including a model law, principles and a guide).