The Impact of the Hague Conventions on Portuguese Private International Law

Abstract

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.