From the point of view of a commentator in a common law jurisdiction, the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is one of the most successful products of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. This article examines why that seems to be the case, and whether the courts in some common law jurisdictions have not been over-enthusiastic in embracing its principles.

Portugal is one of the European countries that has been involved since the earliest time with the work of the Hague Conferences. Moreover, its participation in activities concerning the unification of private international law rules started even before the first conference in 1893. When the Italian Government, under the influence of Mancini, then its Minister for Foreign Affairs, tried to summon, in 1885, an international conference on the recognition of foreign judgments, Portugal was one of the twenty-two European and Latin-American countries that supported the idea. As is well known, this conference never took place, but the idea of the unification of private international law rules did not die and, under the proposal of Asser, the Dutch Government convoked in 1893 the first Hague Conference on Private International Law. Portugal was once again one of the twelve States that met for this purpose in The Hague between the 12th and 27th September.

First we shall examine the state of the Hague Conventions in Switzerland and describe the activities of Swiss Delegates and writers. We shall then concentrate on two occasions where there has been direct interaction between the Conventions and Swiss private international law. The first such occasion was the drafting of the Family Law Conventions of 1902, shortly after the entry into force of the first Swiss Statute on Private International Law in 1891, and their influence on the revision of that Statute in 1907. The second was the entry into force of the new Swiss Statute on 1 January 1989, after ratification of many Hague Conventions by Switzerland.

At a reception in The Hague a few years ago the Burgomaster remarked that there was something in the air of that wonderful city which was conducive to international law. Certainly no other city comes close to The Hague in terms of its pre-eminence in matters of international law, both public and private. The Hague is the seat of the International Court of Justice, the Hague Academy of International Law, the T.M.C. Asser Institute and others. Countless conventions on public and private international law have been concluded at The Hague. One of the oldest institutions, and not the least grandest, is the Hague Conference on Private International Law. This venerable body of distinguished lineage has had a significant influence on the principles of private international law throughout the world including Australia.

In common law countries it is the tradition to link personal status (‘statut personnel’), particularly issues of family law, to the domicile of the interested party — in the peculiar meaning this concept has within that legal system — whereas in Continental or civil law countries, since the nineteenth century and the birth of the ‘Etat-nations’ at least, it has been governed by the law of the nationality of the parties.