This Convention shall apply to decisions relating to maintenance obligations arising out of family, kinship, marriage or covenant, including maintenance obligations towards a non-legitimate child, made by the authorities Of a Contracting State between:

1.

A creditor and a debtor of food; or

2.

A food debtor and a public institution that continues to repay the benefit provided to a food creditor.

It shall also apply to past transactions in this matter before and between such authorities,

The Convention applies to decisions and transactions, whatever their name.

It also applies to decisions or transactions modifying a previous decision or transaction, even in the case of a non-contracting state.

It shall apply irrespective of the international or internal nature of the claim for food and irrespective of the nationality or habitual residence of the parties.

If the decision or the transaction does not relate solely to the maintenance obligation, the effect of the agreement remains limited to the latter.

The judgment given in a Contracting State must be recognised or declared enforceable in another Contracting State:

1.

If it has been given by an authority considered competent for the purposes of s. 7 or 8; and

2.

If it can no longer be the subject of an ordinary appeal in the State of origin.

Binding decisions and provisional measures are, although they may be ordinary remedies, recognised or declared enforceable in the State in which such decisions can be rendered and enforced.

The recognition or enforcement of the decision may nevertheless be refused:

1.

Whether the recognition or enforcement of the decision is manifestly incompatible with the public policy of the requested State; or

2.

The decision is the result of fraud committed in the proceedings; or

3.

If a dispute between the same parties and the same subject matter is pending before an authority of the requested State, first seizure; or

4.

If the decision is incompatible with a judgment given between the same parties and on the same subject-matter, either in the requested State or in another State where, in the latter case, it meets the conditions necessary for its recognition and Execution in the requested State.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 5, a default decision shall be recognised or declared enforceable only if the document instituting the proceedings containing the essential elements of the application has been notified or served on the defaulting party according to the law of the State of origin and whether, Of the circumstances, this party had a sufficient period of time to present its defence.

The authority of the State of origin shall be considered as competent within the meaning of the Convention:

1.

Whether the debtor or the maintenance creditor had his habitual residence in the State of origin at the time of the introduction of the case; or

2.

Whether the debtor and the maintenance creditor had the nationality of the State of origin at the time of the introduction of the case; or

3.

Whether the defendant has submitted to the jurisdiction of that authority either expressly or by explaining itself on the merits without reservation to the jurisdiction.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 7, the authorities of a Contracting State which have ruled on the claim for food shall be considered competent within the meaning of the Convention if the food is due due to a divorce, a separation of bodies, annulment or invalidity Of marriage before an authority of that State recognised as having jurisdiction in this matter in accordance with the law of the requested State.

The authority of the requested State is bound by the findings of fact on which the authority of the State of origin has founded its jurisdiction.

Where the decision concerns several heads of the food application and the recognition or enforcement cannot be granted for the whole, the authority of the requested State shall apply the Convention to the part of the decision which may be recognised or Declared enforceable.

When the decision has ordered the provision of food through periodic payments, enforcement is granted for both the overdue and the drier payments.

The authority of the requested State shall not carry out any examination on the merits of the decision, unless otherwise provided for by the Convention.

The procedure for the recognition or enforcement of the decision shall be governed by the law of the requested State, unless otherwise provided for by the Convention.

The recognition or partial execution of a decision may still be requested.

The creditor of food which, in the State of origin, has benefited in whole or in part from legal aid or an exemption from costs and costs, shall, in any procedure of recognition or enforcement, benefit from the most favourable assistance or The widest possible exemption under the law of the requested State.

No surety or deposit, under any name, may be imposed to guarantee the payment of costs and costs in the proceedings referred to in the Convention.

The party invoking the recognition or requesting the execution of a decision must produce:

1.

A complete and consistent shipment of the decision;

2.

Any document capable of proving that the decision can no longer be the subject of an ordinary appeal in the State of origin and, if so, that it is enforceable;

3.

If it is a default decision, the original or a certified copy of the document proving that the document instituting the proceedings containing the essential elements of the application has been duly notified or served on the party Failing according to the law of the State of origin;

4.

Where appropriate, any evidence to show that it has obtained legal assistance or an exemption from costs in the State of origin;

5.

With the exception of the authority of the requested State, the certified translation of the documents referred to above.

In the absence of production of the documents referred to above or if the content of the decision does not allow the authority of the State to verify that the conditions of the agreement are fulfilled, that authority shall specify a time limit for the production of all Necessary documents.

No legalization or similar formality may be required.

A decision made against a food debtor at the request of a public institution that continues the reimbursement of benefits provided to the maintenance creditor is recognized and declared enforceable in accordance with the agreement:

1.

If such reimbursement may be obtained by that institution in accordance with the law governing it; and

2.

Whether the existence of a maintenance obligation between that creditor and that debtor is provided for by the domestic law designated by the private international law of the requested State.

A public institution may, to the extent of the benefits provided to the creditor, request the recognition or enforcement of a judgment given between the creditor and the debtor of food if, according to the law governing it, it is fully entitled Authority to invoke recognition or to request enforcement of the decision in place of the creditor.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 17, the public institution that invokes the recognition or application must produce any document that is capable of proving that it meets the requirements of s. 18, c. 1, or by art. 19, and that the benefits were provided to the maintenance creditor.

Binding transactions in the State of origin shall be recognised and declared enforceable under the same conditions as the decisions, as these conditions apply to them.

Contracting States whose laws impose restrictions on transfers of funds shall give the highest priority to transfers of funds intended to be paid as food or to cover costs and expenses incurred in respect of any application governed by The Convention.

The Convention does not prevent another international instrument linking the State of origin and the requested State or that the non-treaty right of the requested State is invoked for the recognition or enforcement of a decision or a transaction.

The agreement is applicable regardless of the date on which the decision was rendered.

Where the decision was given before the entry into force of the Convention in the relations between the State of origin and the requested State, it shall be declared enforceable in that State only in respect of the payments to be made after that entry into force.

Any Contracting State may, at any time, declare that the provisions of the Convention shall be extended, in its relations with the States which have made the same declaration, to any authentic act drawn up by a public authority or officer, Received and enforceable in the State of origin, insofar as these provisions may be applied to such acts.

Any Contracting State may, in accordance with Art. 34, reserve the right not to recognize or declare enforceable:

1.

Decisions and transactions relating to food due for the period after the marriage or the twenty-first anniversary of the creditor by a debtor other than the spouse or former spouse of the creditor;

2.

Decisions and transactions relating to maintenance obligations

A.

Between collateral,

B.

Among allies;

3.

Decisions and transactions that do not provide for the provision of food through periodic payments.

No Contracting State which has made use of a reservation shall be entitled to apply the Convention to decisions and transactions excluded from its reservation.

If a Contracting State knows, in respect of maintenance obligations, two or more systems of law applicable to different categories of persons, any reference to the law of that State shall apply to the legal system which its right designates as Applicable to a particular class of persons.

If a Contracting State comprises two or more territorial units in which different systems of law apply in respect of the recognition and enforcement of decisions relating to maintenance obligations:

1.

Any reference to the law, procedure or authority of the State of origin refers to the law, procedure or authority of the territorial unit in which the decision has been rendered;

2.

Any reference to the law, procedure or authority of the requested State shall apply to the law, procedure or authority of the territorial unit in which recognition or enforcement is invoked;

3.

Any reference made in the application of the c. 1 and 2, either to the law or the procedure of the State of origin, either to the law or to the procedure of the requested State, shall be interpreted as including all the relevant legal rules and principles of the Contracting State which govern the units Land that form it;

4.

Any reference to the habitual residence of the creditor or the debtor of food in the State of origin relates to his habitual residence in the territorial unit in which the decision has been rendered.

Any Contracting State may, at any time, declare that it will not apply one or more of these rules to one or more of the provisions of the Convention.

This Convention replaces, in the relations between the States Parties thereto, the Convention concerning the recognition and enforcement of decisions on maintenance obligations towards children concluded at The Hague on 15 April 1958.

The Convention is open for signature by States that were members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law at its Twelfth Session.

It shall be ratified, accepted or approved and instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Any State which has become a member of the Conference only after the Twelfth Session, or that belongs to the United Nations or a specialized agency of the United Nations, or is a Party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice ¹ , on June 26, 1945, may accede to this Agreement after its coming into force under s. 35, para. 1.

The instrument of accession will be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Accession shall have effect only in relations between the acceding State and the Contracting States which have no objection to it within twelve months of the receipt of the notification provided for in the c. 3 of Art. 37. Such an objection may also be raised by any Member State at the time of ratification, acceptance or approval of the Convention, subsequent to accession. These objections will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Any State, at the time of signature, ratification, approval, acceptance or accession, may declare that the Convention shall extend to all the territories it represents on the international level, or to one or more Of them. This declaration shall have effect upon the entry into force of the Convention for that State.

Thereafter, any such extension will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

The extension shall have effect in the relations between the Contracting States which, within twelve months after the receipt of the notification provided for in Art. 37, c. 4, shall have no objection to it, and the territory or territories whose international relations are provided by the State in question, and for which the notification has been made.

Such an objection may also be raised by any Member State at the time of ratification, acceptance or subsequent approval of the extension.

These objections will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Any Contracting State which comprises two or more territorial units in which different systems of law apply in respect of the recognition and enforcement of decisions relating to maintenance obligations may, at When signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding, declare that this Agreement shall extend to all such territorial units or only to one or more of them and may, at any time, Amend this return by making a new return.

These declarations shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and shall expressly indicate the territorial unit to which the Convention applies.

The other Contracting States may refuse to recognise a decision on maintenance obligations if, on the date on which recognition is invoked, the Convention is not applicable to the territorial unit in which the decision has Was obtained.

Any State may, no later than at the time of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, make one or more of the reservations provided for in Art. 26. No other reserves will be permitted.

Any State may also, by notifying an extension of the Convention in accordance with Art. 32, make one or more of these reservations with effect limited to the territories or to some of the territories covered by the extension.

Any Contracting State may, at any time, withdraw a reservation it has made. The withdrawal will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

The effect of the reservation shall cease on the first day of the third calendar month after the notification referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the third calendar month following the deposit of the third instrument of ratification of acceptance or approval provided for in Art. 30.

Next, the Convention will enter into force:

-

For each signatory State ratifying, accepting or approving subsequently, on the first day of the third calendar month after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval;

-

For any acceding State, on the first day of the third calendar month after the expiry of the period referred to in Art. 31;

-

For the territories to which the Convention has been extended in accordance with Art. 32, on the first day of the third calendar month following the expiration of the period referred to in that Article.

The Convention shall have a term of five years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with Art. 35, first paragraph, even for States which have subsequently ratified, accepted or approved or acceded to it.

The convention will be renewed tacitly five years in five years, except denunciation.

The denunciation shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at least six months before the expiry of the five-year period. It may be limited to certain territories to which the Convention applies.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the State which has notified it. The Convention shall remain in force for the other Contracting States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands shall notify the member States of the Conference, as well as the States which have acceded in accordance with the provisions of Art. 31:

1.

Signatures, ratifications, acceptances and approvals referred to in s. 30;

2.

The date on which this Agreement comes into force in accordance with the provisions of s. 35;

3.

The memberships referred to in s. 31 and the date on which they will have effect;

4.

The extensions referred to in s. 32 and the date on which they will have effect;

5.

Objections to accessions and extensions referred to in s. 31 and 32;

6.

The declarations referred to in s. 25 and 32;

7.

Disclosures referred to in s. 36;

8.

The reserves under s. 26 and 34, and withdrawal of reserves under art. 34.

In witness whereof, The undersigned, duly authorized, have signed this Agreement.

Done at The Hague, on 2 October 1973, in English and in French, the two texts being equally authentic, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands and of which a certified copy shall be furnished, by the way To each member State of the Hague Conference on Private International Law at its Twelfth Session.

(Suivent signatures)