Hague Divorce Convention

The Hague Divorce Convention, officially Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations is a convention concluded by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). It regulates the recognition of divorces and legal separations provided they have been performed according to the correct legal process in the state where the divorce was obtained. Not all divorces need to be recognized under the convention. Only those divorces obtained in a state where (at the time of the start of the proceedings);[1]

  • the "respondent" (the person against whom proceedings were started) had its residence
  • the "petitioner" (the person starting the procedures) had his residence (for at least a year; or: together with his/her spouse)
  • corresponds to the nationality of both spouses
  • corresponds to the nationality of the petitioner and where he lived, or had lived for 1 year in the past 2 years
  • corresponds to the nationality of the petitioner, and where he is present, while the last state of their joint residence does not provide for divorce

Hague Divorce Convention
  Parties that ratified
  Parties that acceded (only valid after acceptance of other countries)
Signed1 June 1970
LocationThe Hague, The Netherlands
Effective24 August 1975
ConditionRatification by 3 states[1]
Parties20[2]
DepositaryMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)
LanguagesEnglish and French

Parties

As of March 2013, 20 states were parties to the convention. The parties are all in Europe, except Australia, Egypt and Hong Kong. The convention is open to all countries. Countries that signed the convention, became a Party by subsequent ratification. Other countries can accede to the convention. When a country ratifies, it automatically becomes applicable between all countries that are party to the convention, whereas the accession only becomes applicable when the other country accepts that accession. Regarding members of the European Union (except Denmark), the Brussels II regulation (which handles conflict of law regarding divorce and parental responsibility) supersedes the convention. The UK government has stated that in the event of withdrawal from the European Union in March 2019 without a treaty, the UK would continue to use the Hague Divorce Convention to recognise overseas divorces.[3]

CountrySignatureRatification/AccessionRemarks
Albania7 March 2013
Australia24 November 1985Australian States and mainland Territories and Norfolk Islands
China21 May 1975Only with respect to Hong Kong
Cyprus13 January 1983
Czech Republic28 June 1993succession from Czechoslovakia
Denmark5 December 197225 June 1975
Egypt8 May 197921 April 1980
Estonia7 November 2002
Finland19 November 197416 June 1977
Italy19 February 198619 February 1986
Luxembourg6 November 198113 February 1991
Moldova10 October 201110 October 2011
Netherlands23 August 197923 June 1981European territory and Aruba (since 28 May 1986)
Norway12 October 197215 August 1978
Poland25 April 1996
Portugal10 May 198510 May 1985
Slovakia15 March 1993succession from Czechoslovakia
Sweden13 September 197425 June 1975
Switzerland23 June 197518 May 1976
United Kingdom1 June 197021 May 1974Extended to Bermuda (20 August 1972), Gibraltar (28 January 1977), Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man (21 May 1974)

References
  1. "Convention of 1 June 1970 on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations". HCCH. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. "Status". HCCH. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. "Handling civil legal cases that involve EU countries if there's no Brexit deal". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
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