The Seventh
Inter-American Specialized Conference OF Private
International Law
After
the completion of CIDIP-VI, the General Assembly of the
Organization of American States, through resolutions
[AG/RES
1923 (XXXIII-0/03)]
and
[AG/RES 2033 (XXXIV-0/04)],
convened the Seventh Inter-American Specialized Conference
on Private International Law (CIDIP-VII) and instructed the
Permanent Council to conduct consultations with the Member
States concerning possible agenda topics.
To comply with this mandate, the Permanent Council’s
Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs requested that
Member States present proposals for the agenda. The
delegations of Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru,
Uruguay and United States presented the following topics:
Electronic Commerce, Consumer Protection, Migratory Flows of
Persons, Extra-Contractual Civil Liability, Transportation,
Cross-Border Insolvency, International Jurisdiction,
Protection of Minors, and Degrees and Professions.
Although Member States proposed a total of eight formal
topics (including various possible instrument variations and
sub-topics), they agreed that CIDIP-VII should focus on a
maximum of two. As a result, the Committee met with the
Member States in both formal and informal sessions to reduce
the number of topics, setting a final two-topic agenda
consisting of Consumer Protection and Electronic Registries.
Based
on these recommendations the General Assembly, through
resolution [AG/RES
2065 (XXXV-0/05],
formally approved the agenda for CIDIP-VII, as follows:
(topic one) Consumer Protection, Including Applicable Law,
Jurisdiction, and Monetary Redress (Conventions and Model
Laws); and (topic two) Secured Transactions, Electronic
Registry Implementation of the Model Inter-American Law on
Secured Transactions. Having set the subject matter of the
Conference, Resolution AG/RES 2065 then instructed the
Permanent Council to establish a methodology for the
preparatory work necessary to draft the Inter-American
instruments to be considered by CIDIP-VII.
Having selected consumer protection and electronic
registries as the topics for CIDIP-VII, Member States then
designated Official Governmental Experts to participate in
the preparatory work for drafting international instruments
on these topics adopted by CIDIP-VII.
Experts designated by their respective countries have the
authority to participate and negotiate draft texts pursuant
to their government’s substantive and political directions.
Each Member State was requested to designate at least one
Government Expert for each CIDIP-VII topic. These experts
should have substantive experience working with the selected
topics and preferably have governmental authority for
negotiating and implementing a draft convention or other
instrument on the subject.
Member States were encouraged to designate private law
experts, as well as officials from the domestic
agencies/offices with governmental authority over the
selected subjects – officials from local consumer protection
agencies and officials from local commercial registries.
In addition to governmental experts, the General Assembly
also requested the Inter-American Juridical Committee to
contribute to the preparatory work for CIDIP-VII and request
the General Secretariat to explore means of collaboration
with international organizations with expertise on the
topics. This includes the Hague Conference on Private
International Law, the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International
Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), and
the Inter-American Development Bank, among others, involved
in the process of drafting and promoting international
instruments compatible with those developed in the CIDIP
process.
The Groups of Experts, which can be conformed of both
governmental and non-governmental experts, will conduct the
preparatory work in close consultation with one another, as
well as independent experts, international organizations,
and representatives from the member state through the
discussion forum and meet in preparatory meetings when
necessary.
Once preparatory work on the instruments to be adopted by
CIDIP-VII has concluded, Member States will select a host
and date for the Conference. The Specialized Conference will
take place to finalize the instruments and hold them open
for approval for the member states. |