The aim of the Hague Conference is to work towards the progressive unification of the rules of private international law.

Members of the Hague Conference on International Private Law are those States which have already participated in one or more Sessions of the Conference and who accept this Statute.

2. May become Members of all other States whose participation has a legal interest in the work of the Conference. The admission of new member States shall be decided by the Governments of the participating States, on the proposal of one or more of them, by a majority of the votes cast, within six months from the date on which the Governments have been Seized of this proposal.

3. Admission becomes final due to the acceptance of this Statute by the State concerned.

(1) The member States of the Conference may, at a meeting on general affairs and policy bringing together the majority of them, by a majority of the votes cast, decide to admit also as a Member any Regional Organization Economic integration which has submitted an application for admission to the Secretary-General. Any reference made in this Statute to Members shall include those Member Organizations, unless otherwise provided. Admission shall become final only after the Statute has been accepted by the Regional Economic Integration Organisation concerned.

2. In order to apply for admission to the Conference as a Member, a Regional Economic Integration Organisation must be composed solely of sovereign states, and must have powers transferred by its member states for a A range of issues that fall within the scope of the Conference, including the power to make decisions on these issues binding on its member states.

(3) Each Regional Economic Integration Organisation which files an application for admission shall, at the same time as its application, submit a declaration of competence specifying the matters for which its Member States have transferred competence to it.

4. A Member Organization and its Member States shall ensure that any change in the competence or composition of a Member Organization shall be notified to the Secretary-General, who shall circulate that information to the other Members of the Conference.

5. Member States of a Member Organisation shall be deemed to retain their powers on any matter for which transfers of competence have not been specifically declared or notified.

6. Any Member of the Conference may request the Member Organization and its member States to provide information on the competence of the Member Organization in respect of any specific matter before the Conference. The Member Organisation and its Member States must ensure that this information is provided in response to such a request.

7. The Member Organisation shall exercise the rights relating to its membership in rotation with its Member States which are Members of the Conference, in their respective fields of competence.

8. The Member Organisation may, in respect of matters within its competence, at any meeting of the Conference to which it is entitled to participate, shall have a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which have transferred competence to it On the subject matter, and who are entitled to vote at that meeting and have registered for it. When the Member Organisation exercises its right to vote, its member states do not exercise theirs, and vice versa.

9. "Regional economic integration organization" means an international organization composed solely of sovereign states and which has powers transferred by its member states for a range of issues, including the power of Take decisions binding its member states on these issues.

The functioning of the Conference shall be provided by the Council on General Affairs and Policy (hereinafter: the Council), composed of all Members. The Council's meetings are held in principle every year.

2. The Council shall operate through a Permanent Office to which it directs its activities.

The Council shall examine all proposals for the agenda of the Conference. He is free to appreciate the follow-up to these proposals.

The Netherlands State Commission, established by Royal Decree of 20 February 1897 with a view to promoting the codification of private international law, fixes, after consulting the Members of the Conference, the date of the Diplomatic Sessions.

5. The State Committee shall address the Government of the Netherlands for the convocation of Members. The President of the State Committee shall preside over the Sessions of the Conference.

6. The Ordinary Sessions of the Conference shall be held, in principle, every four years.

7. In case of need, the Council may, after consulting the State Committee, request the Government of the Netherlands to convene the Conference in Special Session.

8. The Council may consult the State Committee on any other matters of interest to the Conference.

The Permanent Bureau shall have its seat in The Hague. It consists of a Secretary-General and four Secretaries appointed by the Government of the Netherlands on presentation by the State Commission.

2. The Secretary-General and the Secretaries shall have appropriate legal knowledge and practical experience. The diversity of geographical representation and legal expertise will also be taken into account in their appointment.

The number of Secretaries may be increased after consultation with the Council and in accordance with Art. 10.

Under the direction of the Council, the Permanent Bureau is responsible for:

(a)

The preparation and organisation of the sessions of the Hague Conference, as well as meetings of the Council and the Special Commissions;

(b)

The work of the Secretariat of the Sessions and the above meetings;

(c)

All tasks that are part of the work of a secretariat.

With a view to facilitating communications between the Members of the Conference and the Permanent Bureau, the Government of each Member State must designate a national body, and each member organisation shall be a liaison body.

The Permanent Bureau may correspond with all the bodies so designated, and with the relevant international organizations.

1. Sessions, and in the range of Sessions, the Council, may establish special committees, with a view to the preparation of draft Convention or to consider any questions of private international law falling within the scope of the Conference.

2. Sessions, the Council and the Special Committees shall, as far as possible, operate on the basis of consensus.

The costs provided for in the annual budget of the Conference shall be apportioned among the member States of the Conference.

(2) A Member Organization shall not be required to contribute to the annual budget of the Conference, in addition to its member States, but shall pay an amount, as determined by the Conference in consultation with the Member Organization, in order to cover expenditure Additional administrative matters arising from its membership.

3. In all cases, the travel and subsistence allowances of the Deputies to the Council and the Special Commissions shall be borne by the Members represented.

The budget of the Conference shall be submitted annually to the Council of Diplomatic Representatives of the Member States in The Hague.

2. These Representatives also lay down the distribution, between the Member States, of the expenditure allocated to them by this budget.

3. Diplomatic representatives shall meet for these purposes under the chairmanship of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The expenses resulting from the Ordinary and Extraordinary Sessions of the Conference shall be borne by the Government of the Netherlands.

2. In any event, the travel and subsistence allowances of the Deputies shall be borne by the respective Members.

The usages of the Conference shall continue to be in force for anything that is not contrary to this Statute or the Regulations ¹ .

Amendments to this Statute shall be adopted by consensus of the Member States present at a meeting on general affairs and policy.

2. These amendments shall enter into force, for all Members, three months after their approval, in accordance with their respective internal procedures, by two-thirds of the Member States, but not before a period of nine months from the date of Their adoption.

3. The meeting referred to in para. 1 may, by consensus, change the time limits specified in s. 2.

The provisions of this Statute shall be supplemented by Regulations, with a view to ensuring its implementation. These Regulations will be established by the Permanent Bureau and subject to the approval of a Diplomatic Session, the Council of Diplomatic Representatives or the Council on General Affairs and Politics.

(1) This Statute shall be subject to acceptance by the Governments of the States participating in one or more Sessions of the Conference. It will enter into force as soon as it is accepted by the majority of States represented at the Seventh Session.

2. The declaration of acceptance shall be deposited with the Government of the Netherlands, which shall notify the Governments referred to in the first paragraph of that Article.

(3) The Government of the Netherlands shall notify, in the case of the admission of a new Member, the declaration of acceptance of the new Member to all Members.

(1) Each Member may denounce this Statute after a period of five years from the date of its entry into force under Art. 15, para. 1.

(2) The denunciation shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at least six months before the end of the budget year of the Conference, and shall have effect at the end of that year, but only to The Member who has notified it.

The French and English texts of the Statute, as amended on 1 January 2007, are equally authentic.