OHADAC was invited by the Hague Conference on Private International Law / HCCH to participate in the regional meeting that was held from 15 to 17 June 2015 in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) with the following programme: “International Family Law, Legal Cooperation and Commerce: Promoting Human Rights and Cross-border Trade in the Caribbean through the Hague Conference Conventions”.

The Hague Conference on Private International Law is an intergovernmental organisation that is working towards the progressive unification of the rules of private international law, overcoming differences between judicial systems, so that individuals and societies can benefit from greater legal protection.

The regional meeting was co-organised by the Hague Conference on Private International Law / HCCH, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the government of Trinidad and Tobago (Ministries of Justice and the Attorney General).

The Conference opened on Monday 15 June 2015 with traditional welcoming speeches and introductory remarks in the presence of Senator Garvin Nicholas, Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Mathew Thorpe, former President of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, expert in international family law, Dr. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary General of the HCCH, Mrs. Elizabeth Bakibinga-Gaswaga, Legal Adviser to the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr. Thomas John, Consultant to the HCCH General Secretariat.

This was then followed by his Excellency Mr. Irwin LaRocque, Ambassador and Secretary General of CARICOM, regarding CARICOM and regional harmonisation in the Caribbean.

Dr. Bernasconi closed the afternoon by presenting “The HCCH, its Instruments, and the Region: Promoting Human Rights and Cross-border Trade. Current status and future opportunities”.

The participants came from all over the Caribbean and beyond, particularly from Bermuda, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, and Trinidad & Tobago of course.

The day of Tuesday 16 June 2015 was devoted to Family Rights, particularly Children's Rights - protection, abduction, adoption, child support, etc. - relating to the HCCH conventions and projects.

The morning of Wednesday 17 June was devoted to civil cross-border apostille, proofs, and procedures.

The afternoon was focused on the theme “Promoting parties' autonomy in international commercial transactions: the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Courts Agreements and the principles of choice of applicable law in international business contracts”.

In this context, OHADAC, represented by Ms. Eve-Lyne Martin Brière, lawyer at the bar of Guadeloupe, presented the OHADAC project on “A comparative approach between the choice of law in the OHADAC Model Law project on private international law and the Hague Principles on choice of law in international business contracts”.

Differences certainly exist, but the synergy between the HCCH Principles and the OHADAC project on private international law is real.

The OHADAC project was welcomed by the participants, who found out about it.

The interest HCCH brought to the OHADAC project, which allowed this presentation, was also demonstrated to the conference participants, the Ministry of Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, lawyers, judges, and jurists from the Caribbean and beyond.

Many plan to participate in the OHADAC conference planned for September in Guadeloupe.

The day ended with a broad overview of the HCCH normative projects in the field of legal cooperation, litigation and commercial law, and the development of recommendations.

The presentation of the OHADAC project before international bodies - HCCH, Commonwealth, and governmental entities (Trinidad and Tobago) - opens new perspectives for expanding the OHADAC project to the entire Caribbean and beyond, perspectives that the September 2015 conference should implement.

For more information, please contact Mr. Jean Alain Penda: jeanalain1@gmail.com.