449 OF 1998

(August 4)

Official Journal No. 43,360, dated August 11, 1998

By means of which the "Inter-American Convention on Food Obligations" is approved, made in Montevideo, the fifteen (15) of July of a thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine (1989).

COLOMBIA CONGRESS

Having regard to the text of the "Inter-American Convention on Food Obligations", made in Montevideo, the fifteen (15) of July of one thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine (1989), which to the letter says:

(To be transcribed: attached photocopy of the full text of the International Instrument mentioned, duly authenticated by the Head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

" INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON

FOOD OBLIGATIONS

INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON

FOOD OBLIGATIONS

APPLICATION SCOPE

ARTICLE 1o. This Convention is intended to determine the right to food obligations, as well as to competition and international procedural cooperation, when the creditor of food has its habitual residence or residence in a State Party and the food debtor has its habitual residence or residence, property or income in another State Party.

This Convention shall apply to maintenance obligations in respect of minors for their quality of such and to those arising from marital relationships between spouses or those who have been such.

States may declare by signing, ratifying or adhering to this Convention that they restrict it to the maintenance obligations of minors.

ARTICLE 2o. For the purposes of this Convention, it shall be deemed to be less than the age of eighteen. Without prejudice to the foregoing, the benefits of this Convention shall be extended to those who have fulfilled that age, continue to be the creditor of food supplies in accordance with the applicable legislation provided for in Articles 6 or 6. and 7o.

ARTICLE 3o. States at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention, as well as after its validity, may declare that this Convention will apply to the obligations of the Convention. Food aid to other creditors; likewise, they may declare the degree of kinship or other legal links that determine the quality of the creditor and the debtor of food in their respective legislations.

ARTICLE 4. Everyone has the right to receive food, without distinction of nationality, race, sex, religion, affiliation, origin or immigration status, or any other form of discrimination.

ARTICLE 5o. The decisions taken pursuant to this Convention do not prejudge the relationship between the creditor and the debtor of food. However, they may serve as an evidence as far as relevant.

ARTICLE 6o. APPLICABLE LAW. The maintenance obligations, as well as the qualities of the creditor and the debtor, shall be governed by that of the following legal orders which, in the opinion of the competent authority, are more favourable to the interest of the creditor:

(a) The legal order of the State of the domicile or habitual residence of the creditor;

(b) The legal order of the State of the domicile or habitual residence of the debtor.

ARTICLE 7o. They will be governed by the applicable law in accordance with article 6or. the following subjects:

(a) The amount of the food credit and the terms and conditions for making it effective;

b) The determination of those who can exercise food action in favour of the creditor, and

(c) The other conditions required for the exercise of the right of food.

ARTICLE 8o. COMPETENCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPHERE. They will be competent in the international sphere to know about food claims, at the option of the creditor:

(a) The judge or authority of the State of the domicile or habitual residence of the creditor;

(b) The judge or authority of the State of the domicile or habitual residence of the debtor, or

(c) The judge or authority of the state with which the debtor has personal ties such as: possession of goods, perception of income, or obtaining economic benefits.

Without prejudice to the provisions of this Article, the judicial or administrative authorities of other States shall be considered equally competent, provided that the defendant in the trial has appeared without objecting to the jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 9o. They will be competent to know the actions of increased food, any of the authorities mentioned in the article 8or. They shall be competent to hear about the cessation and reduction of the food, the authorities which have known about the fixing of the measures.

ARTICLE 10. Food must be proportional to both the need for food and the economic capacity of the food.

If the judge or authority responsible for the assurance or execution of the judgment adopts interim measures, or has the execution at a lower amount than the request, the creditor's rights shall be saved.

ARTICLE 11. INTERNATIONAL PROCEDURAL COOPERATION. Foreign judgments on maintenance obligations shall have extraterritorial effectiveness in States Parties if they meet the following conditions:

(a) That the judge or authority that issued the judgment has had jurisdiction in international sphere in accordance with Articles 8or. and 9or. of this Convention to know and judge the matter;

(b) That the judgment and the supporting documents required under this Convention are duly translated into the official language of the State in which they are to take effect;

(c) That the judgment and the supporting documents be duly legalized in accordance with the law of the State in which they have to take effect, where necessary;

d) That the sentence and the attached documents come from the external formalities necessary to be considered authentic in the State from which they come;

e) That the defendant has been notified or in due legal form substantially equivalent to that accepted by the law of the State where the judgment is to have effect;

f) That the defense of the parties has been secured;

g) That they have the character of firm in the State in which they were dictated. In case there is an appeal of the judgment it will have no suspensory effect.

ARTICLE 12. The prerequisite check documents for requesting compliance with the statements are as follows:

a) Authentic copy of the statement;

b) A true copy of the parts required to prove that the incisos e) and f) of the article 11have been met, and

c) A true copy of the order declaring that the statement has the character of firm or that it has been appealed.

ARTICLE 13. The control of the above requirements shall correspond directly to the judge who must know of the execution, who shall act in summary form, with a hearing of the obliged party, by means of a summons personnel and with a view to the Public Ministry, without entering into the review of the substance of the matter. If the decision is appealing, the appeal shall not suspend the provisional measures or the recovery and enforcement which are in force.

ARTICLE 14. No type of caution shall be payable to the creditor of food for the purposes of possessing foreign nationality, or having his or her domicile or habitual residence in another State.

The benefit of poverty declared in favor of the creditor in the State Party where he has exercised his or her claim, shall be recognized in the State Party where the recognition or enforcement is made effective. States Parties undertake to provide free legal assistance to persons enjoying the benefit of poverty.

ARTICLE 15. The jurisdictional authorities of the States Parties to this Convention shall order and execute, at the request of a party or through the appropriate diplomatic or consular agent, the measures provisional or emergency measures which are territorial in nature and whose purpose is to ensure the outcome of a pending food claim or to be established.

This will apply to any of the internationally competent jurisdiction, which is sufficient to ensure that the property or the revenue that is the object of the measure is located within the territory where the measure is promoted.

ARTICLE 16. The granting of interim or precautionary measures shall not imply the recognition of jurisdiction in the international sphere of the requesting court, nor the commitment to recognize the validity or to proceed with the execution of the judgment to be delivered.

ARTICLE 17. The interlocutory resolutions and the provisional measures given in the matter of food, including those dictated by the judges who are aware of the processes of nullity, divorce and separation of bodies, or others of a similar nature, shall be executed by the competent authority even if such provisional measures or measures were subject to appeals in the State where they were issued.

ARTICLE 18. States may declare by signing, ratifying or adhering to this Convention that it will be their procedural right that will regulate the jurisdiction of the courts and the procedure of recognition of the foreign sentence.

ARTICLE 19. GENERAL PROVISIONS. States Parties shall endeavour to provide interim food assistance to the extent of their potential to minors of another State who are abandoned in their territory.

ARTICLE 20. States Parties undertake to facilitate the transfer of funds that will be carried out by the implementation of this Convention.

ARTICLE 21. The provisions of this Convention may not be interpreted in such a way as to restrict the rights that the food creditor has in accordance with the law of the forum.

ARTICLE 22. The enforcement of foreign judgments or the application of foreign law provided for in this Convention may be refused when the State Party to the enforcement or enforcement, as the Case, I shall consider it manifestly contrary to the fundamental principles of his public order.

ARTICLE 23. FINAL PROVISIONS. This Convention shall be open for signature by the Member States of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 24. THIS CONVENTION IS SUBJECT TO RATIFICATION. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 25. THIS CONVENTION SHALL BE OPEN TO THE ACCESSION OF ANY OTHER STATE. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 26. Each State may make reservations to this Convention at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention, provided that the reservation is based on one or more specific provisions and is not incompatible with the fundamental purpose and purpose of this Convention.

ARTICLE 27. States Parties that have two or more territorial units in which different legal systems related to matters dealt with in this Convention are governed, may, at the time of the signature, ratification or accession, that the Convention shall apply to all its territorial units or only to one or more of them.

Such statements may be modified by subsequent declarations, which expressly specify the territorial units to which this Convention applies. Such subsequent declarations shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and shall take effect thirty days after their receipt.

ARTICLE 28. Regarding a State that has in the field of child maintenance obligations, two or more applicable law systems in different territorial units:

(a) Any reference to the domicile or habitual residence in that State contemplates the habitual residence in a territorial unit of that State;

b) Any reference to the law of the State of the domicile or habitual residence provides for the law of the territorial unit in which the child has his habitual residence.

ARTICLE 29. Among the Member States of the Organization of American States that are Parties to this Convention and the Hague Conventions of 2 October 1973 on Recognition and Effectiveness of Judgments relating to Child Food Obligations and to the Law Applicable to Food Obligations shall govern this Convention.

However, States Parties may agree with each other on a bilateral basis on the priority application of the aforementioned Hague Conventions of 2 October 1973.

ARTICLE 30. This Convention shall not restrict the provisions of conventions which have been signed on the same subject matter, or which will be signed in the future in a bilateral or multilateral manner by the parties. States Party, or the most favourable practices that such States may observe in the matter.

ARTICLE 31. This Convention shall enter into force on the 30th day from the date on which the second instrument of ratification has been deposited.

For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the second instrument of ratification, the Convention shall enter into force on the 30th day from the date on which the Convention has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.

ARTICLE 32. THIS CONVENTION SHALL BE GOVERNED INDEFINITELY, BUT ANY MEMBER STATE MAY DENOUNCE IT. The instrument of denunciation shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. After one year, starting from the date of deposit of the instrument of denunciation, the Convention shall cease in its effects for the reporting State, remaining to the other States Party.

ARTICLE 33. The original instrument of this Convention, whose texts in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of the American States, which will send authentic copies of its text to the Secretariat of the United Nations, for registration and publication, in accordance with Article 102 of its Charter. The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States shall notify the Member States of that organization and the states that have acceded to the Convention, the signatures, the deposits of instruments of ratification, accession and denunciation, as well as the reserves it has. It shall also transmit the declarations provided for in this Convention.

In faith of which, the undersigned plenipotentiaries, duly authorized by their respective governments, sign this Convention.

Made in the city of Montevideo, Eastern Republic of Uruguay, on July 15, 1989. "

The undersigned Head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

NOTES:

That the present reproduction is faithful photocopy taken from the certified text of the "Inter-American Convention on Food Obligations", signed in Montevideo, Uruguay, the fifteen (15) of July of a thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine (1989) in the Fourth Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law.

Dada en Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C., at ten (10) days of the month of September of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven (1997).

HECTOR ADOLFO SYNTURA VARELA.

the Chief Legal Officer,

EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF PUBLIC POWER

REPUBLIC OF THE REPUBLIC

Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., September 18, 1997.

Approved. Submit to the consideration of the honorable National Congress for the constitutional effects.

(Fdo.) ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO

(Fdo.) MARIA EMMA MEJIA VELEZ.

The Foreign Minister,

DECRETA:

ARTICLE 1o. Approve the "Inter-American Convention on Food Obligations", made in Montevideo, the fifteen (15) of July of a thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine (1989).

ARTICLE 2o. In accordance with the provisions of Article 1o. of Law 7a. In 1944, the "Inter-American Convention on Food Obligations", made in the city of Montevideo, the fifteen (15) of July of a thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine (1989), that by article 1or. of this law shall be adopted, shall bind the country from the date on which the international link with respect to it is perfected.

ARTICLE 3o. This law governs from the date of its publication.

AMYLKAR ACOSTA MEDINA

The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.

The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

CARLOS SQUIRLA BALLESTEROS.

The President of the honorable House of Representatives,

DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.

The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,

COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH.

Execute a review of the Constitutional Court in accordance with Article 241-10 of the Political Constitution.

Dada en Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., 4 August 1998.

ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO

CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ.

The Foreign Minister,

ALMABEATRIZ RENGIFO LOPEZ.

The Minister of Justice and Law,